04-25-2007, 02:35 PM
[quote hal]I just can't understand why a student needs a discount on an iPod... that's a good place to start...
From a business perspective, it makes pretty good sense.
iPods are great money makers in themselves. They have the margins to let them discount it and still make a good profit.
Why students?
Get 'em young.
iPods are a "gateway drug" to Apple branded iPod accessories, expensive/newer iPods, and Macintoshes.
Apple and Mac users are a pretty loyal consumerbase. They come back to buy more Apple products. Often they become hooked for life. Young iPod purchasers soon become adult (not discounted) purchasers. Along the way they evangelize the product.
It would be nicer for the rest of us non-discounted buyers for Apple to remove the large discounts for some and spread the love by discounting the prices a tiny bit over all. But that's doesn't make much marketing sense. Discounts drive sales. I know my student discount made me purchase (Adobe) software and (Apple) hardware that I wouldn't have without the discount. I became hooked on them after college spending (undiscounted) money to those vendors ever after.
From a business perspective, it makes pretty good sense.
iPods are great money makers in themselves. They have the margins to let them discount it and still make a good profit.
Why students?
Get 'em young.
iPods are a "gateway drug" to Apple branded iPod accessories, expensive/newer iPods, and Macintoshes.
Apple and Mac users are a pretty loyal consumerbase. They come back to buy more Apple products. Often they become hooked for life. Young iPod purchasers soon become adult (not discounted) purchasers. Along the way they evangelize the product.
It would be nicer for the rest of us non-discounted buyers for Apple to remove the large discounts for some and spread the love by discounting the prices a tiny bit over all. But that's doesn't make much marketing sense. Discounts drive sales. I know my student discount made me purchase (Adobe) software and (Apple) hardware that I wouldn't have without the discount. I became hooked on them after college spending (undiscounted) money to those vendors ever after.