iMac, My Mac, Your Mac

Joe Wilcox | July 02, 2004, 11:49 AM

A number of reporters have asked what I see as the impact of Apple stopping iMac orders and revealing a new model will ship in September.

Qualifying that I am no financial analyst and won't discuss third-calendar quarter revenue impact: I don't see September delivery as that big a deal, even if Apple were to run out of existing iMacs. July and August are generally two of the slowest PC retail sales months of the year, save for back to school.

But eMac is Apple's school model, not iMac. College students would be better off with an iBook or PowerBook. Looking at the seasonal situation and number of iMacs sold in the last quarter for which there is public information, Apple wouldn't likely lose much from iMac over the next two months. In fact, the situation might create a better opportunity for selling notebooks, which is an area of increasing Apple emphasis.

Then there is the reality a new product announcement often slows down sales of the retiring computer anyway.

Certainly tipping its hand about a new product is uncharacteristic of Apple. But, the move also is opportunity to generate buzz ahead of the new iMac's release. Apple is a smart marketing company, and could benefit from rumor sites going wild ahead of the new product launch. Remember, this is the Macintosh's 20th anniversary year. Apple CEO Steve Jobs may have that "one more thing," and the new iMac could be it.