While supply and demand are fairly well in balance going into the holiday buying season the next 2 - 3 weeks can see significant changes in this balance. I believe that, especially in the 2 weeks before Christmas, some of the better selling products like the iPods will be very hard to find in the US and even more difficult to find overseas. Supplies of the 20" iMac will probably be limited to direct purchases from Apple in the near future and, if it's a BTO, then delivery may well be after Christmas.

I went to the Apple Store at the South Park mall the other day and they didn't have any iPod minis in stock. I went there today and they had more than 50 of them, and that was near the end of the day!

There were a LOT of people in the store, all smiling and playing with the gadgets and stuff.

I predict that this is going to be a great year for Apple.

Go Apple!

-Steven

"PowerBooks and eMacs are approaching the end of their life cycle, recent Apple inventory data has revealed. Stock of both product-lines remains high, while demand for the computers almost ceases to exist. Both products are likely to see refreshes in early 2005, sources said."

So, um, why don't they drop prices on the PowerBooks then?

Excellent point. I wonder why they don't drop prices dramatically on older hardware... that would raise their marketshare dramatically, one would think.

OTOH, I guess it makes sense NOT to lower the prices of old product in order to preserve sales of the new product. Imagine if Apple announces a G5 PowerBook in January and they lower the prices of their existing G4 PowerBook line for the Nov-Dec shopping season. They flood the market with G4 PowerBooks, then announce a G5 PowerBook -- which nobody buys because they just bought G4 PowerBooks.

I think Apple's whole sales and marketing process is flawed, though. They really need to take a look at what the car manufacturers are doing.

The car manufacturers have been doing what you and I propose for decades. Lower the cost of the existing inventory in order to beef up their marketshare (and clear the dealer lots) and then release the new stuff for people who decided to wait and then charge a premium for it.

For example, the year before they release the new stuff, they show exactly what they'll be releasing (exciting new Ford Mustang for 2005, for instance)... so if people are really interested in the new Ford Mustang GT, they'll wait, and not buy the older model. But with Apple's shrowd of secrecy regarding new products, they can't do this -- therefore their marketshare (and our wallets) suffer.

Apple isn't selling cars so you're comparing "Apples to oranges" as the saying goes. Industries have different parameters on how products are sold.

To digress, my local Apple Store has hundreds of iPods on display in their boxes... all varieties. Mini's on one side of the store, regulars - from 20GB to photo versions on the other. They were getting low on U2 iPods but expected a shipment next week. Down the street at the mall, Sharper Image had two "iPods sold here" signs on each window.

4 million sold this quarter? If Apple can deliver more units it could surpass that figure.

Friend of mine and I made a road trip to Buffalo's Apple Store in the Walden Galleria mall to take advantage of the Black Friday discounts.

I watched him buy his first Mac, and he admits it all started when he bought an iPod six months ago...

Glad I got my iPod Photo BEFORE Thanksgiving, online sales or not!

I love mine, but it IS the top-end and not needed by most people. I wasn't sure if it would be a big seller, or just a mildly successful flagship and attention-getter. Seems like it's either a big seller or Apple didn't make many.

I'm no where near an Apple Store so I ordered my daughter an iPod mini from the web site. Ordered on Friday and it was shipped today. For now inventory levels look pretty good - we'll see how they are 2 weeks before Christmas!

In terms of announcing future products, Apple did get burned a "little" with the "3 gigs in a year" - even though all internal indicators pointed to it. The delay with the G5 iMac was another ooops. Apple is simply too much on the leading edge to let anything out these days. For the best solid information we have to look as what IBM says they are doing in the development area and project (too optimistically in most cases) about future products.