Most Mac Users Would Pay More for Apple Tablet Than PC Users

[Paul Daniel Ash]

The consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo.com, in its recent Gadgetology Report, discovered that 68% of people who primarily use a Mac would be willing to pay $600 or more for an Apple-made tablet, while only 36% of users who spend most of their time on a Windows PC would pay that much.

"Mac loyalists will buy almost anything from Apple," said Manish Rathi, co-founder of Retrevo, which had an independent organization do a study of 753 users distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States. "But how do you grow it past the loyalists?" Rathi asserted that to expand its market beyond people who are already enamored of Apple products, they have to cut price - essentially marketing the long-rumored tablet as a "netbook" device.

According to Retrevo's survey, 37% of Mac users already own, or plan to buy, a netbook this year, as compared to 35% of respondents who use a Windows-based PC. "They have missed the bus from a timing perspective for the holidays," said Rathi. "There's a big time window this holiday season, and Apple doesn't have a netbook."

An analyst interviewed by Computerworld disagrees. "Sure, Apple missed the bus as far as taking an appreciable share of that market," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "They missed that bus from Day One." Gottheil makes the point that Apple's success doesn't depend on just pushing more boxes out the door. "They were never going to come close to matching the price of Windows netbooks," he says. "For them to be successful, they don't need to seriously erode the share sold by other vendors. So to say that they 'missed the bus' on netbooks, that's just silly."

If the rumor mill is to believed - and massive amounts, not grains, of salt should always be applied to rumors - Apple will be positioning its new device as a digital media viewer, rather than as just another low-cost general purpose computer. The tablet will thus be sold as the next must-have gadget, and will likely come at a price premium like Apple products generally do.

Mac/iPhone enthusiasts are said to be "price insensitive." Apple may be taking a risk in assuming this will continue to be the case as they roll out new products and modernize their existing lineup, but they haven't been wrong so far. Apple just had its most profitable quarter ever... in the midst of an economic recession.

image via Retrevo

[lom51]

If they roll it out at $600+ (£367+ for us brits) granted it will be cheaper then a standard mac book, but the general spec will be slightly lower as the tablet pc isnt designed for the general usage that a notebook or netbook are.

and you do have to ask will mac book users honestly buy the tablet to use as a primary "notebook" or will it just be a fashion accessory.

now i know most of you will answer yes, but can you honestly say yourself that you would pay $600+ for something that isnt going to be used alot (IF you already have a notebook) if not then i can understand the expense

[Melech518]

I am willing to pay big bucks

[dq13]

It doesn't matter if it is 1000 bucks, I don't care... I like the latest gadgets "just to have it" so I'm heading to the store when it comes out

[tudtran]

I like the Tablet because it's like a big version of iPhone. I think it would be easy to use.

[thetoothfairy]

I love technology so count me in for one! LOL

[nighthawk283]

For some people money is a problem for them so they go with PC cuz they can pay less, and if money is not a problem willing to get anything

[GTOpilot]

Big question is....what exactly will it do and not do.

If its just a sleek version of a netbook, then $600+ is pretty steep.

[dale1v]

like some people are smart spenders and others are trend whores.

You typing from your iPhone, by chance?

[Bluprint]

only in america

[lom51]

More like some people are smart spenders and others are trend whores.

This is so true its bordering on some form of psycological disfunction in society.

It has become a case of "Must have" instead of "I can live without"

[NArush]

Very true. I confess I'm willing to shell out the bucks for pretty much anything Apple makes. Call me a 'whore' who's trendy

[keatonec]

The only people who call us trend whores are the ones who cant afford it or they jus dont know quality products when they see them.

If you cant tell i would spend lots o money on this.

[drumstyx]

Mac users: willing to pay more for less.

well said mate, just what i was going to say

[dale1v]

At the end of the day: my money + my preferences = no one else's goddamn business. I've used OS X on my PC for a while, and it took no one else's peer pressure to convince me into buying one. I have no qualms about buying one and have not run into any problems in which some of you like to so gracefully spew out of thy mouths. It's a computer, it does it's job and I like it. There's nothing else to it.

People need to find something better to do than droning on about the same thing in every single mac thread, it's pitiful seeing the same people post the same thing. Go away.

[redcard]

Exactly, $600+ is insane for a little computer simply for browsing the internet and checking email. My netbook was $180 and will run OSX no problem, not that I have any desire to do so.



More like some people are smart spenders and others are trend whores.

Some people have money to spend. Some of us earn enough that we're able to buy quality and not have to worry so much about the cost.

Granted, I can see if you're on minimum wage you usually need to go with the cheapest option

[drumstyx]

Some people have money to spend. Some of us earn enough that we're able to buy quality and not have to worry so much about the cost.

Granted, I can see if you're on minimum wage you usually need to go with the cheapest option

It's really funny because truly, the only thing of particular quality in apple's products, is the physical design, and the operating system, it's not the hardware at all. Many macbooks run the same intel GMA3100 I have in my laptop, but my laptop cost 1/3 of the macbook. You're really paying 200% more for the OS and the ability to run said OS.

[redcard]

It's really funny because truly, the only thing of particular quality in apple's products, is the physical design, and the operating system, it's not the hardware at all. Many macbooks run the same intel GMA3100 I have in my laptop, but my laptop cost 1/3 of the macbook. You're really paying 200% more for the OS and the ability to run said OS.

Your laptop probably looks like crap and you'll hate the sight of it in 6 months. It cost 1/3 of the price for a reason.

I could link you to 100 blogs showing that a Macbook can work out cheaper than a PC with comparable hardware. Google it.

[Melech518]

At the end of the day: my money + my preferences = no one else's goddamn business. I've used OS X on my PC for a while, and it took no one else's peer pressure to convince me into buying one. I have no qualms about buying one and have not run into any problems in which some of you like to so gracefully spew out of thy mouths. It's a computer, it does it's job and I like it. There's nothing else to it.

People need to find something better to do than droning on about the same thing in every single mac thread, it's pitiful seeing the same people post the same thing. Go away.

+5,000,000
If I could hit the Thanks button more than once I would Bud!

[dale1v]

It's really funny because truly, the only thing of particular quality in apple's products, is the physical design, and the operating system, it's not the hardware at all. Many macbooks run the same intel GMA3100 I have in my laptop, but my laptop cost 1/3 of the macbook. You're really paying 200% more for the OS and the ability to run said OS.

This is wrong.