Apple in a very unusual manner, has decided to abandon the habit of doing secret future products and tried to dispel the doubts of some analysts that it will focus on further development of Mac.
At a recent meeting with bloggers and journalists from two senior leaders Apple marketing Director Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi, who heads the direction of software development – agreed that earlier promotion strategy of the flagship Mac Pro was incorrect, writes Computerworld. And although this year’s updated version of Mac Pro we will not see, Schiller and Federighi promised that work on it will continue to go full speed.
Giving clarification on the Mac Pro is a niche product in the Mac family, which brings the company not too significant revenues compared to revenues from the iPhone, representatives of Apple stated that the special attitude to the professional part of the customer base. This year the company will introduce a new model iMac, including user-centric category ‘pro’.
“Disclosure of information about future products — a very unusual step for Apple, – says chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, Jan Dawson. It is a clear departure from the traditions.”
However, some experts believe that, while Apple continues to maintain the veil of secrecy (less than a year after taking office, CEO Tim cook said about twofold increase of the level of secrecy around their products), there were hints of slight weakening.
“They seek to clarify the priority things for themselves, – said Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies. – We can recall, for example, as optimistic, though, and in General terms, cook talked about the technology of augmented reality.”
What made Apple to move away from the held for decades, the strategy of communications?
“In the end, it all comes down to growing discontent with traditional Mac users, says Dawson. What we see today is a response to the accumulated negative”.
Last fall, when Apple released new MacBook pros, critics are talking about the inability of these machines to meet the special needs of professional users who need to edit video, to solve engineering problems and complex engineering. The discontent spilled into online forums and was intensified by media publications in which we discussed about a possible decline in interest Apple personal computers.
Some critics recalled the economic factors. Despite the fact that Mac sales are measured in billions of dollars (in 2016, for example, revenues exceeded 23 billion dollars.) in General, the company’s portfolio, they account for only a relatively small part — less than 11%.
“I don’t think anyone will dare to blame Apple for the complete lack of concern for the Mac, said Bajarin. – It seems, however, the company has ceased to fight for the sympathy of the community Pro with the same zeal with which she has done this before. Comments its leadership aims to combat negative trends, but are limited primarily by the direction of the Mac Pro”.
Not all, however, interpretiruya observed turn this way.
“I think the goal is to keep the users interest in the Mac platform, – said principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy Patrick Moorhead. – The developers of Windows itself, Microsoft and its partners, put forward very interesting proposals, demonstrating the platform, perfectly suitable for creative activities, in terms of both hardware and software.”
As examples, Moorhead brought a new package of software updates to Windows 10 Update Creators, orientation to Microsoft for the creation of three-dimensional content and monoblock Surface Studio. All this is done in order to get creative professionals for a long time, give preference to the Mac. Microsoft has achieved some success, and Apple didn’t like it.
“Creative individuals are offered very interesting options – continued Moorhead. And Apple felt the need to raise rates.”
“Apple has intensified its efforts – agreed Begerin. One of the most subtle points is that the company really listens to its customers. Customer base Mac Pro has at best a few million people, but in the Apple emphasize that they are ready to address their grievances and to take steps in the right direction.”
“The main part of the Mac customer base is no longer restricted to professionals, wrote Dawson in his review on the website of Tech Narratives. – Their place was taken by the mass users. But the voices of these people are still heard and are very important, because a much greater influence on the final results.”
