By: Angela Soric
On Sunday, a report was issued by Credit Suisse’s, Bill Shope where he shares details from his recent meeting with Apple management.
Bill Shope said Apple indicated it would consider lowering prices if initial demand is low.
“While it remains to be seen how much traction the iPad gets initially, management noted that it will remain nimble (pricing could change if the company is not attracting as many customers as anticipated),” said Shope.
Key points from Shope’s report, courtesy of Silicon Alley Insider’s Jay Yarow:
- Management declined to tip their hand about Verizon.
- Instead, they say they’re focused on international expansion. The iPhone is only in 86 countries, while rivals are in 160 countries.
- Apple is happy with enterprise adoption of the iPhone, and it thinks that’s a market that will expand.
- The movie industry’s legacy deals are screwing Apple from getting the content it wants. For example, HBO has locked out certain titles, which Apple cannot get. The contracts protecting those locks won’t expire for a few years.
- It’s hard to sell a TV show for $1.99 when Redbox is renting a whole movie for $1.00.
- On e-books, Apple cares less about the long-tail and more about the hits. It wants the “right titles quickly.”
- Apple believes the education market presents a massive opportunity for the iPad.
- Despite the low price of the iPad, Apple “expects strong profit performance.”
- Apple says most critics haven’t played with an iPad, and are focused on what it doesn’t do, rather than what it does.
