Apple's Last-Wednesday News: Video And Other Observations

Continued from ‘Apple iPhone Nano: Impending Introduction?‘…

• I wonder if NBC, now that it knows Apple’s expanded video-playback capability throughout its entire iPod line, is feeling any regret about pulling its content from the iTunes Store? And speaking of video playback, I see that Apple’s continuing its longstanding habit of locking customers into Apple-branded and Apple-blessed (translation; lucratively licensed) accessories, and of obsoleting customers’ existing accessories, by enabling video output only to a diminutive list of newer docks that contain authentication ICs.
• I have no solid data (and frankly nor does anyone who’s pontificating on the topic) on whether or not the $200 price cut on the 8 GByte iPhone reflects underwhelming demand for the product. My personal opinion is that shrewd business strategy is more likely the underlying motivation; Apple did enough market research to realize that even at $599, there were at least 1 million Apple-crazed early adopters who’d open up their wallets in exchange for being able to tout their cachet to family, friends and total strangers (thereby, I also suspect, fueling those early adopters’ frustration that the ‘unwashed masses’ are now able to afford that same precious toy). Jobs’ eventual response to those early adopters (his initial ‘well, that’s what happens in technology’ feedback was amazingly arrogant, but then again, what did you expect?), in the form of a $100 credit, is equally shrewd…folks feel pacified, Apple gets them back into its high-margin stores, and by next January’s Macworld Expo keynote this issue will be a distant memory and they’ll be poised to buy into the Reality Distortion Field once again. And now, by cutting a bit into the device’s substantial profit margin, Apple’s poised (albeit a bit earlier than probably necessary) to tap into the holiday shopping crowds.
• Finally, reflecting this post series’ introductory title, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of last Wednesday’s iPhone news, IMHO, got little pickup elsewhere, and my slant on it is (as far as I’ve seen) unique. Apple killed the 4 GByte variant of the iPhone (it’s still available at $299 until inventory’s depleted). Capacity is one key (perhaps the key) means by which Apple differentiates its various iPhone product families. So what does killing the 4 GByte iPhone tell me? Simple: the more compact, defeatured and capacity-limited ‘iPhone nano’ (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) is coming soon, probably by the end of November (again targeting the holiday shopping crowd). You heard it here first.

I’ll wrap up with a link to the post-intro thoughts of David Caulton from Microsoft’s Zune team. I’ve referenced Caulton’s material before and I think you’ll find his competitive insights interesting.

Your thoughts, folks?