What is Digg?101 Comments
- asdfer, on 01/30/2008, -4/+50no proof there, just some analysis and speculations.
- MadScientist440, on 01/30/2008, -3/+20I don't know, does it? Why are you asking me?
- joe90210, on 01/30/2008, -1/+18why did you remove the word "near" from the original title? idiot.
- NightOwl4, on 01/30/2008, -7/+22Yea...I don't get the big deal people are making about how "*****" the Apple TV is. Mine does everything I ask it to?
- timusca, on 01/30/2008, -3/+17Please learn the definition of monopoly...
- llsethj, on 01/30/2008, -3/+17should have linked to the original article if they take the idea
http://blogs.computerworld.com/apple_is_subsidizin ... - sockpuppets, on 01/30/2008, -0/+10I really like the "Steve Jobs in a turtleneck sipping a latte" channel.
- Quix, on 01/30/2008, -2/+9I though subsidizing meant *losing* money on each sale (like Sony and Microsoft do with game consoles). Making little or no money, on the other hand, with the hope of profits from media sales is hardly "subsidizing."
- sweintraub, on 01/30/2008, -0/+6yeah, look at the date. Computerworld was a day earlier and Giz has a link to Computerworld
- PandarenLord, on 01/31/2008, -0/+5I'm amazed by how detailed your analysis was based on a 2 sentence comment.
- manitoba98xp, on 01/30/2008, -1/+6Because they'd have to be the ONLY company doing it to be a monopoly. They might get 80% market share, but that is NOT a monopoly. Similarly, Apple does not have a monopoly on the MP3 player market and Microsoft does not have a monopoly on the OS market.
- Super6, on 01/30/2008, -0/+5Apple is getting burned if those are the prices they pay. You can easily get MicroATX motherboards for sub $100 and the hard drive price is a complete rip off. Also, it has a $0.50 per gb and $1 per gb price on hard drive but I paid about $0.20 per gb on my last hard drive purchase.
- Raian, on 01/30/2008, -1/+6These stories always seem bogus-- Apple gets every part, and every component at a massive discount-- and I am willing to bet they are making a profit on the Apple TV...
- Flunk, on 01/30/2008, -0/+4Well Apple are still charging the full price in countries outside the US. Its almost double the US price in the UK.
- RyGonWan, on 01/30/2008, -0/+4I believe I remember this happening before. The "good" and "best" models get a price cut shortly before a new "best" model comes out and pushes the other models down a spot with the old "good" falling off the line.
- Cooperjones, on 01/30/2008, -3/+7Actually these numbers were already debunked - too bad tech writers don't do their homework. The slow Intel chip Apple uses for AppleTV costs about fifty bucks. Do the math from there. Apple does NOT proffer loss leader products. Never has and pro'ly never will. Not on Apple TV
- EtherGnat, on 01/30/2008, -1/+5I know Apple is popular on Digg, but he has a point. Even if you feel Apple currently makes the best product, there's no guarantee that will be the case in the future. Tying all your content to one company for both hardware and software increases risk and limits future choices. I'm not saying it's enough reason not to buy an Apple TV (I'm considering purchasing one but will likely build a MythTV box or something instead) but it's a valid contribution to the discussion, and shouldn't be modded down.
- p4r4d0x, on 01/31/2008, -1/+5I would watch that.
- peestandingup, on 01/30/2008, -0/+4Online video distribution will never get anywhere unless all these companies come to develop some kind of standard. No one wants to be trapped with a single proprietary device & software suite with DRM up the ass.
Online music doesn't do that & neither does MP3s or portable devices. Everything is cross platform. That is, unless its riddled with DRM (but you see where thats going). - chamady, on 01/30/2008, -2/+6Rebuttal to this article is here:
http://digg.com/apple/Contrary_to_Some_Opinions_Ap ...
I apologize for plugging my own submission, but this needs to be read imho. - yobkeeg, on 01/30/2008, -2/+5Each unit sold still returns close to 30%, why is that giving it away. Most electronics sold don't even have those kinds of margins...Why does isuppli feel that they are giving it away. Doesn't make any sense!!!
- yabos, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3They're laptop hard drives so the cost per GB is higher. But I still believe all these numbers are crap anyways. They're just guessing.
- etandrib, on 01/31/2008, -0/+3I have an Apple TV and use it to view all the movies I ripped to my iTunes library. I am excited about being able to rent HD content from my couch and enjoy the 5.1 surround sound. I'm not locked into the hardware on movies I own (I don't but iTunes movies because of the DRM) but renting movies isn't a lock in. You only get the movie for 24 hours anyway. I like being able to move it to my iPhone if I need to as well.
If you look at the Apple TV as a media player with rental capabilities it is a great device and well worth $250. - zippy757, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3..this is such a loser article....first, you can the hd on the street for about 1/2 of what they say here...second, the odds of MB being in the range are zippo....MB cost is more like $90....
lastly, they are missing some major costs like sales, marketing, distribution...all of which go into the product price.... - moisie, on 01/30/2008, -0/+3Exactly, these prices are nonsense. They have no idea what Apple are paying for components. A lot of the prices are more expensive than you can get them retail, and I doubt Apple buy their components individually.
- inactive, on 01/30/2008, -3/+6Or maybe they just know that they are not going to get that monopoly.
I LOVe how the fanboys think that everything Apple does turns to gold. When in fact there is only ONE market (our of several they they have tried to enter) in which they have significant market share. In the others they have a VERY tine one. - CraigJ, on 01/30/2008, -1/+3The iPhone is not subsidized. Not by a long shot.
- Pliep, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Inaccurate! (And therefore buried). iSupply NEVER includes cost for research, development, transport, etc. for those devices. They "estimate" what the processor cost (so it's a GUESS) and they do NOT know how much discounts Apple gets from their component-suppliers.
iSupply is just guessing, guessing some more, and then concluding that Apple makes either a loss or huge profits on their devices. Not scientific at all; and I think newspapers, magazines and blogs should STOP quoting their insane conclusions. - sdlvx, on 01/31/2008, -1/+3This isn't any different than microsoft selling 360s for a loss.
You can sell hardware once, but if you give someone hardware, and then milk them for software, you're in good shape.
And honestly, can gizmodo write an article that isn't a complete waste of bandwidth? This was the biggest waste of 23,435 bytes I have ever seen. - inactive, on 01/30/2008, -1/+3http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/73 ...
A 2 year contract is required for an iPhone. Apple gets a piece of every monthly bill you pay to At&t. That in the business world is called a subsidy. - Mike668, on 01/30/2008, -4/+6Well they won't be making a dollar from me. I don't want to buy content from Apple only to have to continue to buy Apple hardware for the rest of my life to view it.
- etandrib, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2I agree with you a bit. I think Apple realizes they can't have the same iPod success with DRMed video and be in the living room. It is already a very crowded space with similar options and little room to differentiate themselves like they were able to do with the iPod.
The model should be as simple as this. Buy it - no DRM (maybe watermarked). Rent it? - DRM to obviously have the file self-destruct and you of course have to have corresponding hardware. The moral of the story? Rentals will only work with corresponding hardware and Apple is in the best position to do so with their broad range of video players.
So to clarify your argument, online video sales will not take off until they are sans DRM. Same as music. We'll see how long the movie industry takes to wise up. - wellyuk, on 01/30/2008, -0/+2After they release Windows 7.
- meshman, on 01/30/2008, -2/+4Well duh. the AppleTV is just an expensive gateway to the iTunes store. It does little else useful like play DVD's.
- troye, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2/sarcasm
- inactive, on 01/30/2008, -2/+4The only proof you need is that no one is buying it.
- peestandingup, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Thats why I made the comment about DRM'ed music going away, no one wants it. And iPods play MP3s/AACs that you rip yourself or buy/download from other places. AppleTV & other similar devices don't do that. It's iTunes with AppleTV or nothing. I know technically you can rip video from DVDs that will play on it, but its not as easy or as supported as ripping a CD, so they dont talk about it.
- gfnw, on 02/01/2008, -0/+2Sony and MS are selling at a loss. They sell the product for less that it costs to manufacture, with the difference coming out of their own pocket. Hence they are subsidizing the sale of the console, because the customer is not paying the full cost of the product.
Apple, assuming for purposes of this post that the numbers stated are correct, are not selling at a loss, but they aren't selling at a profit either. They aren't subsidizing in this case because when you purchase their product you are paying the full cost of the product, Apple does not lose money. - CraigJ, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Subsidy implies that the manufacturer is selling the item at a loss to get subscription revenue. What they are getting from AT&T is a revenue share as part of the exclusive contract. In this case Apple is not discounting the iPhone, in fact they make close to 35% profit (estimates are that each iPhone costs about $250 to make. 35% profit margin in phones is actually quite a lot - Motorola only wishes they made 35% on each RAZR.
- colincornaby, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2AppleTV supports un-DRM'd content...
- FredFredrickson, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Why are these people getting dugg down? They're right, and you know it!
- Gogogo111, on 01/31/2008, -0/+2Yeah, they pay more for packaging then for their power supply?
- NightOwl4, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1hey bingo bongo...whens the last time you got laid??? you need to relax pal.
- Icyfenix, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1You forgot about the milton bradley game.
- p4r4d0x, on 01/31/2008, -1/+2Apple prices in Australia, while not as bad as the UK, are still horrendously over the top.
Apples extremely questionable international pricing policies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujAkPdLU7Fw - wonderchemist, on 01/30/2008, -3/+4Alternatively, content holders could be paying Apple to sell the AppleTV at reduced cost, in order to drive sales through the iTunes store. The lions share of the cash from iTunes goes to them after all.
- barnacle999, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1Yeah this article has been thoroughly debunked. It's junk. Apple doesn't lose money on AppleTV ... or anything else.
- soupyc, on 01/31/2008, -0/+1And Office 2009.
- johnpaul191, on 02/02/2008, -0/+11) the MPAA will not allow movies to be sold without DRM
2) movie rentals (on iTunes, Xbox, whatever) mean that after 24 hours it doesn't matter what the format *was*
once the iTunes rental store is fully stocked, it might make sense to drop cable movie channels and just rent things. i know some people that dropped cable and just buy the few shows they watch from itunes. they swear it's cheaper for them. - johnpaul191, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1It's different because Apple apparently makes *some* money on the AppleTV. At this point the AppleTV does not have the assumed revenue stream of a game console. Same way Microsoft is getting their feet wet by offering movie rentals on the Xbox. I'm sure they don't make much money there either, but they are learning.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 101 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is