Real Kato Blog: Apple Watch: New iBooks, eMacs

Apple today introduced new faster iBooks and eMacs, bolstering their low-end market.

On the heels of Apple's blockbuster iTunes-for-Windows announcement, Apple quietly released G4-based iBook portables and priced-reduced eMacs. G4 iBooks have been rumored for some time, though the timing of today's announcement seemed to catch many by surprise.

The new iBook is quite a bargain, particularly the 12" version with the 800 MHz G4 at $1099. Given its capabilities and price, the 12" PowerBook (1 GHz G4) seems ridiculously overpriced at $1599. Most Mac web sites are now speculating that PowerBook upgrades are imminent.

It's hard to say which way Apple is going with the low-end line. On the one hand, we all know that Apple is loath to cannibalize its high-end sales by getting into the low-end, low-margin entry-level market. On the other hand, we also know that Apple needs to win some entry-level customers if they are to make any inroads as far as market share. My speculation is that Apple believes they can win enough sales at the $799 desktop price point to keep them competitive, and that selling machines at a loss is the beginning of a Compaq-like death spiral. So for all of those hoping for a $499 desktop, keep dreaming. A price drop for the iBook to $999 seems probable, though; that might be where Apple is really banking on winning customers.

One more area where Apple needs to get competitive: enterprise desktops. Apple is clearly interested in the enterprise space, with its server and RAID offerings. Now, imagine a conservatively styled, compact, G5-based desktop to match that offering, with centralized account management (a la Unix), distributed processing, seamless zero-configuration Gigabit-ethernet networking... can anyone say "G5 Cube"? I'll tell you, the G4 cube would have been a blockbuster enterprise hit if the right software had been available at the time.

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