Macworld Expo! We'll be there! And we have a wonderful holiday discount, and also a bit about what's going on with Apple, and quite a bit about what's not. The Zune thing, you know
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Mellel News:
What's going on:
We're going to MacWorld Expo! Why yes, of course we're going. Would you've thought otherwise? We have some great plans for this show, and some great give-aways, gifts, lotteries, and so on. Purchasing Mellel during the show will get you a nice computer related gift, and a chance to win a Porsche GT3. OK, perhaps not exactly a Porche GT3, but something just as nice. At least we think so. And you'll also get a chance to shake hands with us shifty eyed developers. That alone is worth the trip.
It's the holidays discount, again -- It's Christmas time, and Chanukah, and St. Stephens Day, and Oudjaarsdag, and Boxing Day, and all the rest so we decided (the usual gang of idiots here at RedleX) to come out with a new and exciting concept: A holiday discount! Isn't it surprising?
Well, surprising or not, it is here: a 20 percent flat discount over everything (except for the update). You can get the details with the link below (which basically tells you how what's the coupon).
Also, note that we'll be attending this year's MacWorld Expo.
Freer than a discount -- If you're shooting for something even freer than a discount, try MacCompanion. They have a GiftAway thing which will run in February. Mellel is represented there to the sound of 10 licenses. Just fill in a form and, well, you know the rest. It's almost as good as going to MacWorld expo, which RedleX will attend this year.
The Apple way -- The feeling is that this year's MacWorld expo is going to be extra special. The main reason is, of course, that we'll be attending the show (have we mentioned that? Well, we will attend this year's show!). But there are also other things, perhaps more negligible, but still interesting.
A while back, in March 2006, we're predicted that "if Apple starts selling Macs at a rate of around 1.5 million units a quarter" than something very good is happening with Apple. During the quarter ending in September Apple sold 1.61 units.
The gods seem to be smiling upon Apple, and to keep them smiling, it seems that it plans to add some new products to its arsenal. One direction that is under the to-be-expected column is some sort of a spreadsheet application. It's not clear whether this is a contingency product (in case Microsoft bails out on Office) or a product that Apple actually plans to release. Another plausible option for early next year is the "thin" notebook, that is, an ultra-portable that will enable Apple to boast that it has the fastest-thinnest notebook and such like.
A more important announcement -- which is iffy for the MacWorld expo (which we'll attend, as you may know by now) but rather certain for "early in 2007" is the iPhone, Apple's much rumoured cellular phone. Trying to get into this mature market will be an interesting effort, especially if Apple succeeds in bringing its famous ease of use into the gadget.
An even more interesting new product is the iTV. The device is a small box that will allow users to stream music and video downloaded form the iTunes store to their television sets. Controlled by the Front Row remote, it will enable viewers, for example, to download movies from the iTunes store and view them.
The rumour, which is probably true or will be true in a very short while, is that the iTV will also gain a hard disk, which will enable it not just to play, but to also record and store. In other words, people will be able to record stuff from their television to the iTV and play it later on. If true, that would be a nice coup from Apple in a domain Microsoft tried to penetrate but failed.
The Zune way -- Speaking of which, no piece of punditry is complete without some punditising of Microsoft Zune.
The sales figures are quite obnoxious. Zune has one representative, at the respectable #57 spot in Amazon's 100 top sellers in electronics. In the MP3 players list it has one at #17 and another the brown one, at #29. Apple gets the first three spots in the latter list, and 7 of the top 10.
Losing to iPod is to be expected. Neither Microsoft nor anyone else expected Zune to top the iPod in the sales department. Losing, and quite miserably, to SanDisk and even Creative is rather poor performance (although SanDisk is practically giving their players away this holiday). According to NPD sales report, Zune captured just 2 percent of the portable players' market.
Microsoft is already trying to play down the disaster by "re-defining" their sales expectations. Now, it is claimed, they'll be happy with selling 1 million Zunes by June 2007.
One shouldn't pay too much attention to those reports. Zune's sales may pick up. In fact they probably would, if Microsoft gets where it is operating. After years of trying to compete with Apple by proxy, via other portable player makers and online music shops Microsoft decided to enter the fray itself. But creating standards for others isn't at all like competing directly.
In the portable player market there are only three important factors at play: style, pricing and variety, usually in that order. Apple succeeds in this market by ever refreshing its offering, and occasionally by aggressively pricing its products. San Disk succeeds by aggressive pricing. The fabulously ugly Sansa series costs just a few dozens of dollars -- half or less of the price Apple asks for similar iPods. Everyone knows that at a street price of 30-40 USD you get exactly what you pay, but that's beside the point.
Microsoft will have a hard time competing in this market. The days of aggressive pricing, when MS Word was selling for 59 USD, are long gone, as are the days of churning new versions of whatever quickly. Microsoft seems, in a way, totally unfit to compete here... But who knows? If you come to the MacWorld Expo this year, we may be able to tell you. We're attending it, as you know.
