Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Microsoft’s next Apple price attack: Zune Pass vs iTunes
If you were buying 30,000 songs, would you rather pay $30,000 or $15 per month?
If you were buying 30,000 songs, would you rather pay $30,000 or $15 per month?
For months, Microsoft has jabbed at Apple with an, at times, baffling advertising campaign for Windows PCs. Now Microsoft may finally land a solid blow against its rival.
In a new chapter to its ad campaign that will begin airing during the NCAA basketball playoffs on CBS Thursday evening, Microsoft will begin hammering on a theme that could resonate in these times of economic hardship: how much less expensive Windows PCs are than Macs.
Good news for shoppers, bad news for retailers. Apple’s Black Friday discount could be up to 15 percent, compared to 5-10 percent. Retailers will be the ones suffering for it, though, not Apple. The ability of Apple products to attract shoppers into stores and turn them into buyers–especially of high-margin products–is likely the reason retailers are willing to take the hit.
Best Buy (BBY) shares are on the rise this morning on news that the company’s Best Buy Mobile stores will carry the Apple (AAPL) iPhone starting Sept. 7.
Pricing will be the same as it is through Apple and AT&T (T) stores: $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for 16GB, with a two-year AT&T service contract. Best Buy stores already sell iPods and Macs.
The time is near.
I’m sitting in an exhibition hall at Moscone West in San Francisco, waiting for Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs to give the keynote at the company’s 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference. As usual, the place is overrun with media, analysts and the Apple faithful. The 3G iPhone’s debut should be minutes away.
I’ll keep updating this post through the morning. Stay tuned.
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