Apple is expected to unveil new notebook computers, perhaps even one priced for those with tight budgets, at a ”town hall” gathering at its northern California headquarters on Tuesday.
In typical enigmatic style, Apple hinted at the theme of the invitation-only event but provided no details other than that it would be held on Tuesday morning at the iconic firm’s headquarters in the city of Cupertino.
Invites sent out by email late last week bore the lone message ”The spotlight turns to notebooks”.
That was enough to ignite a firestorm of rumour on the internet as Apple’s cultish followers began feverishly trying to deduce what the iconic California company might be planning to unveil for the year-end holiday shopping season.
By Monday, speculation online included talk that Apple would introduce a Macintosh laptop computer priced perhaps as low as $800 in an unprecedented break from selling premium products at premium prices.
Apple has never marketed a Macintosh laptop computer priced less than $1 000.
”I think Apple has to go less than $1 000,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley said of pricing for Macintosh laptops. ”With the economy the way it is, holding on to a premium price point would mean taking a bath in the Christmas shopping season. It is tough to move premium products; that category is at huge disadvantage.”
Apple’s Macintosh computers remain a distant second place to world-dominating PCs based on Windows operating systems from Microsoft, but have been gaining market share.
Analysts believe the popularity of Apple’s trendy iPod MP3 players and iPhones revived the company’s cachet and attracted buyers to its computers.
A ”refreshed” line of Macintosh laptop or notebook computers is likely to feature technical upgrades made possible by powerful NVidia or Intel processors that serve as computer engines.
Not everyone is convinced Apple is ready to begin battling on price in a fat but heavily competitive segment of the laptop market.
”There is a possibility they might go there, but in general they have consistently played at the very high end of the market,” said Gartner analyst Van Baker. ”While I would love to see Apple compete in the $799-to-$999 price range, based on past history I am sceptical they are going to do that.”
He says it is more likely Apple is giving its MacBook Pro line of laptops a thinner, more industrial design that proved successful with its MacBook Air model.
Apple is expected to be shifting from plastic laptop casings to more stylish and eco-friendly aluminium.
At least one internet website known for keeping tabs on Apple says the firm might surprise the world with a television customised to link to the internet and download digital movies from iTunes online shop.
An Apple TV set-top box for routing movies or high-definition television shows or movies from home computers to televisions has been a slow seller.
”Apple has had this all-in-one idea for a while,” said analyst Enderle. ”Apple TV built into a television could be interesting. I think it is at least possible.”
While discussing earnings with investors earlier this year, Apple executives tempered profit expectations by saying it is investing in new designs, but didn’t give specifics. — Sapa-AFP