Apple fans don't know when to buy
Apple relies on an element of surprise to create a buzz around its products. But that can hurt customers who miss out on a deal if they buy too soon -- and that can also make them angry. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
An Apple store worker helps a customer with a MacBook Pro laptop in San Francisco (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Apple's been a busy little technological fruit lately. Just in the past week, it unveiled a faster iPhone, some amped-up laptops, and it also cut the price of some of its merchandise. If you're an Apple user, it's no surprise that Apple likes to surprise people with those kinds of announcements. But it can make for some frustrated costumers. Here's Marketplace's Stacey Vanek-Smith.
Stacey Vanek-Smith: My colleague Brendan hasn't bought a new computer in six years. So he was very excited when his new MacBook came.
Brendan: It arrived on Friday -- beautiful, aluminum-bodied laptop -- snd then Monday come to work, reading the news and they just changed the price points on like all of their products. And so I was kind of bummed.
Brendan's new computer now cost about $400 less than the week before. So he got on the phone -- along with hundreds of other people.
Automated Operator: Welcome to Apple. Due to higher than expected phone volumes, you may experience longer than expected hold times.
Yankee Group analyst Josh Martin says Apple cultivates mystery around its new products to create buzz. So consumers, like Brendan, never know the right time to buy.
Josh Martin: Apple's toting the line between releasing innovative products and, you know, enticing consumers but also frustrating them at the same time.
Martin says all the calls and returns are costly for Apple, but the hype is worth it. Brendan was on hold for more than an hour -- but he got Apple to refund the difference.
I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Salt Lake City, UT, 06/16/2009
Buyer beware applies to any electronics purchase. If you don't do any basic research, don't be surprised if you get a bum deal.
Of course buying the latest and greatest models comes at a price too. There were hardware issues for the first 6 months of the Intel based MacBook Pros, and the bad Nvidia GPU's were shipped for almost a year after that. Apple struck out on recognizing the design flaws plaguing many of those early adopters, but they've been more generous fixing the GPU's. And all electronics manufacturer's make similar mistakes.
From Silver Spring, MD, 06/16/2009
As an Apple enthusiast myself, I've also been burned, and I freely admit it's annoying. But Brendan has no cause for complaint. Everyone knew that the WWDC was scheduled for the week of June 8th, so you'd have to have been crazy to buy a new Mac the week before. Granted, it's unusual for Apple to announce new products and/or price cuts at the WWDC, but it's not unheard of, and the rumor mill was buzzing with news that this WWDC was going to be one of the exceptional cases.
If Brendan had done any research at all, he would have known to wait another week.
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