Apple Teases with Black Friday Banner
If Apple isn’t the king of suspense, then I don’t know who is. This morning they released their Black Friday ad, which hints at great deals coming for the “iPad, iPod, and Mac…”, and that is about all they hint at. The banner ad says little else other than the sale begins at 12:01 am PST on Black Friday, which we all know is coming up in only 3 days.
You can bet I’ll be clicking refresh at 12:01 am to see exactly what the deals are! Other than that, the ad itself is not very telling of sales to come but if history is any indicator, they will not be as significant as we all hope.
In years past however, there has been a different captain at the helm; one who had been accused of being cold at times. Remember that only when Tim Cook took over did Apple start to match employee donations to charities, and up to $10,000 to boot. This could be an indicator of what the Black Friday savings will amount to, hopefully more than last year’s.
The last Black Friday sale we were presented with didn’t really feel like much of a sale at all. Coming in at the top spot for savings was the iMac at $101 off the price (costing $1,500 at the time). The exceedingly (and still) popular iPad was only $41 off of its hefty $500 price tag. Although this is a significant savings for some (8.2% off), it might not be enough to encourage such an expensive purchase.
Now the next question on your mind may be, “Will the iPhone 4S be included in the sale?” The likely answer is a big, fat “No.” seeing as the phone just recently went on sale and the demand remains so high. However, we might see a discount on some accessories (wishful thinking), but that too remains a stretch.
So I sit here wondering, what discount is enough to get you to buy an iPad 2 or iPod touch? Will $11 off of an iPod Nano really make a difference? Or does it feel like a slap in the face to anyone else? With Apple drawing in record revenues quarter after quarter and tens of billions of dollars sitting in its bank account, they can certainly afford to be a little more generous this holiday season.