How Low Will Apple Go on Price?

Peter Burrows at BusinessWeek:

But Oppenheimer repeatedly said that the company planned to deliver “greater value to consumers” in the quarters ahead. He cited lower ASPs (average selling prices) as a reason why those record gross margins will come down from 34% to more like 30% in the current quarter. And COO Tim Cook talked about “closing the umbrella,” so that rivals with lesser products couldn’t steal business simply by offering lower pricetags.

Intriguing, to say the least. I can’t see them reducing iPhone or iPod prices now, so it must be about Macs. But we’ve seen Apple pessimistically forecast lower margins before, too — they like to set expectations low.

★ Tuesday, 20 October 2009