[38] in bcs-newton
Re: Pricing of the Newton
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sam Hunting)
Sun Nov 1 15:08:58 1992
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1992 15:04:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Sam Hunting <shunting@world.std.com>
To: Jim Rinaldo <bcs_jim@MIT.EDU>
Cc: bcs-newton@world.std.com
In-Reply-To: <9210272350.AA17692@MIT.EDU>
(1) Apple always sc*rws the early adopters. Jim, you know that. Why should
it be any different with Newton -- especially when the early adopters
don't mind a bit? Therefore, Apple's price for the Newton will be higher,
rather than lower.
(2) The Newton does not compete with Sharp and Casio; they are trashy
consumer goods. The Newton is for business-people (or business-"like"
people). Sharp,Casio, et al. don't let me jot, print, fax, recognize by
(ok, non-cursive) handwriting, and besides they look lame, with those
cheesy little keyboards, whereas Newton looks extremely cool!
(3) If you know so much about all this, why don't you take it up yourself
to organize a PDA open house in the RC? Then we could have a cutting
session that would have some real data -- maybe get press coverage.....
On Tue, 27 Oct 1992, Jim Rinaldo wrote:
> Re:
>
> >>>
> I vote for list price $799, street price $650.
> <<<
>
> Sam, at that street price, you are approaching the price of Powerbook
> 100s.
>
> That is WAY WAY too high. At that street, plus the add-on pcmia boards
> to communicate with, you are at the same price of a PB 100 w/qmail and
> meeting maker clients, some fax software and a send/receive/fax modem.
>
> >From the preliminary looks at the Newt, it isn't going to come with that
> much stuff; most of it is basic.
>
> If someone else can supply 70% of the functionality (including
> handwriting rec) at 1/3 the cost via a pen-windows route, NO ONE is
> going to buy Newton.
>
> Yes, Apple has a revolutionary idea; Yes, they will implement the
> slickest interface. But, regardless of how Mr. Sculley spins this, it
> still is competing with consumer products by Sharp and Casio.
>
> Again, the $397 is for a basic Newt; with add ons and such, it would get
> up to around $550-700. But, YOU choose the add-ons and the 3rd parties.
>
> It seems that Newt is going to ship without any wireless communications,
> at least in the first version. That is a big add-on price factor.
>
> Albert W. seems to think that they need to recover all the R & D costs
> for the Newt in Version 1 which necessitates a higher price. I do not
> agree.
>
>
> >>>
> And Apple is here today, whereas Altair is but a memory.
> <<<<
>
> Sam, what was the price of a 80 meg hard drive when ALtair introduced
> their first computer? RAM price? Multi-layer circuit board fab?
>
> One of the reasions Appple is STILL here is because they finally
> realized that thier prices where prohibiting market share. Yes, they
> still have a 40% margin, but they also have extremely advanced
> manufacturing, injection mold and ASIC production capability.
>
> If the Cost of Goods (COGs) for a Newt is higher than $90, then they are
> doing something wrong. (Note: COG does not usually price in R & D or
> software).
>
> JTR
