Apple Cuts Prices for Educational Customers

Eharley writes "Over the weekend, Apple's online educational store lowered prices on its computers and upgrade components by 5-15%. Now the 12" Al PowerBook starts at $1399. If you have a computer on order that hasn't shipped you probably already received an email about the price drop and will have your account credited the difference. However, if you're like me and always seem to buy things the week before they have their prices reduced, you may still be eligible for a refund provided you act fast."

Comments

Sign me up

[ihatewinXP]

I knew there was a reason i didnt want to graduate this century. aside from the obvious perks of being a career student Apple education prices just keep me taking electives.

Seriously though, a 12" poweerbook for $1399? I remember my fist mac, Lombard powerbook, being like $3000. Im looking over my expenses tonight and will probably order one tomorrow. I easily got my moneys worth on the lombard because i used it so long. The vlaue I recieve from apple notebooks make that an absolute steal.
you can wait for the g5 powerbook, ill start being more productive with my antiquated g4 tomorrow.

Woot, G5 Prices Get the ChopToo

[WiseWeasel]

Awright! Now I can get a Dual 2GHz G5 w/ stock options and an upgrade to a 9800 Pro graphics card for $2969, about $100 less than when I priced it out yesterday. Oh happy day. It's like they said here, you're a student, have a free 9800 Pro, you'll be needing it for all your studying . . . how generous. My order is soooooo placed.

Re:Geez

[Anonymous Coward]

Shouldn't the limited front page space on Slashdot be reserved for interesting stuff?

It is. This story doesn't appear on the front page.

Or is Apple on the verge of buying hAndover or OSDN or whatever the overlords of Slashdot are called these days??

No, but I detect your jealousy of Apple.

Only for Education Individuals

[tbmaddux]

Prices have not changed for educational institutional purchases, and the prices for individuals haved dropped to match the (formerly) lower institutional prices. At least, that's what I've found from checking on my recent institutional purchase of a 12" PowerBook.

The word directly from Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple Education
Education Price Consolidation 7/19/03

Dear Campus Reseller,

Effective July 19th, 2003, Apple will institute standard educational pricing for Apple hardware and AppleCare products for both institutional and individual purchases. Individuals who are officially affiliated with an educational institution can now purchase Apple hardware and AppleCare products for personal use at Apple's published institutional pricing. Apple is lowering its prices in response to campus requests for students to purchase at Apple's published institutional pricing.

This pricing action supports Apple's efforts to:

- Grow market share in individual purchases, especially with regard to student purchases.

- Drive incremental business during the higher education peak selling season.

- Make Apple products more price competitive.

Now buying a Mac desktop or laptop computer is more affordable than ever. We encourage you to pass this significant savings along to your customers.

With regards,

Frances Himes
Sr. Director
Higher Education
Apple Computer Inc.

Campus Reseller FAQ:

Q: What products are affected by this price change?

The price change affects Apple hardware and AppleCare products. Apple software, memory and third party products are not affected.

Q: When does this price change take affect?

The price reduction is in effect as of July 19, 2003.

Q: Will the prices change on the Apple Store for Education Individuals and my account's Custom Apple Store?

The prices will change on July 19, 2003 on the Apple Store for Education. Any Custom Store with standard individual pricing will change automatically on July 19, 2003. If your institution has a Custom Store with special discounted pricing, please work with your Account Executive.

Q: Why did Apple reduce education individual pricing?

This pricing action supports Apple's efforts to grow market share among individual purchasers, especially students. Reducing prices of Apple hardware products will help Apple and its campus resellers increase the volume of orders and units sold, thus gaining greater penetration among individuals on campus and boosting overall revenue during the higher education peak buying season.

Q: Will this price change affect the recently announced Back-to-School rebate bundle offer?

The Back-to-School bundle rebate offer is still valid with the new lower individual pricing on eligible products. Now with this additional price reduction, individuals purchasing through their institution's campus reseller or the Apple Store for Education online will save up to $200 depending on which qualifying Mac laptop is purchased. This savings, in addition to the up to $300 rebate, will potentially increase the volume of orders received and the number of units sold by the campus resellers to individuals at their institutions. If your campus has a Custom Store that purchases at prices lower than Education Institution pricing, please contact your Account Executive to determine your eligibility to participate in the Back to School offer.

Q: Will we receive price protection for products we have in inventory?

No. As a campus reseller you currently purchase Apple inventory at Institutional pricing, so there is no need to offer price protection.

Q: Who should I contact if I have questions regarding this price change?

You can either contact your Apple Account Executive directly, or send an email to Apple's campus reseller program.

Yay US Students

[truffle]

Candian students, still out in the cold :( Thanks Apple.

Apple student developer program (popular source of student discounts for apple products) also US only.

Re:Yay US Students

[NaugaHunter]

When there are international pricing differences, why is it everyone assumes it's Apple's fault? There could be lots of possible reasons. Tariffs and shipping costs that they don't include with the price. Local taxes. Fluctuation in currency rates which prevents easy savings translation. (Well, if we lower this price by x here, we'd lower it y there today but z tomorrow.) Costs of local versions of the software. (And yes, even for Canada. I remember complaints early on for OS X about the included dictionary was either American or UK English, neither of which worked correctly for Canadian.)

I'm not trying to overly defend them. But International Boundaries make a mess of a lot of free trade; it's just a matter of where it shows up. And it is possible that Apple Education America and Apple Education Canada are entirely seperate entities with seperate budgets makeing their own decisions. In this case, they would do things seperately to increase their sales but meet their budgets.

Now, I don't work for Apple (as much I as may wish I did). It may be that none of these are true and someone up top did say 'Meh - don't give it to foreigners!'. I just don't think it was that cold-bloodily simple.

As for the student developer program, that probably has most to do with whatever software/services they offer and the distribution rights Apple has for them, or the level of administration they can apply towards it. I'm sure they are aware that growing an international community of developers would help them massively long term, so I doubt they simply don't want to do it.

Too little, too late

[Gizzmonic]

Apple just lost New York City's school district to Dell. Funding cuts are stabbing at the heart of our educational system...as it's the Republican's plan to 'phase out' public education for a voucher system (don't worry about the children who get a crappy education during this period, they'll do fine!).

In the short term, it seems to make financial sense to drop Apple for Dell. Just like it seems to make financial sense to pass $300 billion in 'tax cuts,' (actually just deferring payments until somebody else is in office). But the board of education will soon find out that the human costs of IT will far outweigh the benefits of a one-time savings.

All in all, this is just another case of immediate gratification over future growth and stability. Sorry Apple, but the price cuts are hitting hard up against IT propellerheads looking for job security.