Rumors are circulating that Apple may be ditching their professional series of Macintosh Pro high end systems. These computers are the most expensive in their range and can be configured to cost upwards of £10,000 via the online store.
According to AppleInsider, the company are ‘evaluating' if they should continue to invest in their workstation range of computers. They claim that ‘people familiar with the matter' said management as far back as May 2011 ‘were in limbo over whether to pour any additional resources into the product line'.
If this is true, it could be a blow to Apple in the professional sector, as many design bureaus and production companies use the Mac Pro range of computers for video, image editing and 3d Rendering duties. We know that many of these organisations have since moved to the PC platform, but the industry is still strong for Macintosh.
According to reports, Apple notebooks make up 74 percent of Apple's computer sales. Quarterly Mac sales are also at an all time record of 4.89 million units, although desktops are becoming a smaller proportion all the time.
Kitguru says: Will Apple ditch the resources for desktop Pro computers and put the resources elsewhere? Is the PC market just too competitive now for Apple to generate enough revenue in this sector?
Don’t know how the profits stack up for these, but would think it a mistake if they do. The market share generated through designers training on macs and not wanting to switch platforms kept Apple going through some of the tougher years. Although chatting to a video-editor about the trajectory of Final Cut recently, he was sure Apple were on their way out of the pro market – seems like a very premature exit to me unless they’ve got something up their sleeve.
I think they’ll shoot themselves in the foot if they do go through with it.