http://www.s2999.com/images/dartboard_decision_maker.jpg
"Apple decided not to sell them." is not a reason, it's an effect of a long line of decision making. The first part of your statement is missing. "Netbooks _____, so Apple decided not to sell them". Fill in the blank with something that makes business sense and you'll probably be not too far off the mark. You have offered absolutely 0 to the analysis of why Apple is not in this space.
My point, since you have failed to deduce it, is that I think Apple couldn't make their margin goals on that product line (netbooks). They sell for between $300-400. Apple's absolutely bottom of the barrel offering is $500 with no peripherals whatsoever. Margins on netbooks are pitiful, probably close to break even. Apple wants to sell commodity hardware at 20% markup, they can't do that in the netbook space. Common, this is Business and Products 101.
I can see no other rational business reason not to get into that space. There may be one, but I don't see it. You are certainly not offering a compelling analysis.
It introduces a product gap that their analysis should have spotted but they were willing to chance. The effect of that product gap is that something filled the hole via consumer demand and that was either: a) People bought vanilla netbooks and "suffered" with XP. b) People bought netbooks and turned them into hackintoshes.
Either way, Apple didn't realize revenue from these purchases. Smart business would have tried to capitalize on this form factor, which is why every major manufacturer other than Apple has some kind of netbook offering. My claim is that this is an oversight on the part of Apple. Sure they wouldn't have realized revenue from these sales, but they would have kept their consumers "in the fold" since netbooks are usually a second purchase.
Apple's response so far has not been to fill the hole in the product line with a product (even an overpriced one), but by crippling their software.
It's a scorched earth policy, if they can't have the consumer's money, nobody can.
So in what way is not offering a netbook a method to maximize profit? Again you fail at offering absolutely anything of value.
But Apple can't find the margins in the product line and the equation means that they have no offering for this huge hole in their lineup.
It won't have a good profit margin. Why should Apple waste time on it? They have many other products that are selling incredibly well (with much higher profit margins). It seems like Apple wants to work on those products instead.
Also, its not very good form to insult someone in a debate. It doesn't help further your point, and indicates that you don't have any additional items to add that will help further the discussion. And good discussion is what a lot of people come to HN for, not simply the news.
I don't think that satisfied tptacek. Which was how this went quickly down flamewar and troll territory.
Seriously, considering that my longer, and more thoughtful reply was rather trollishly shot-down as stupid and overly long, with no counter analysis provided by the complainant, I think I restrained myself rather well.
Precisely. There aren't many non-apple users (classifying them as people who already own an Apple system, but want the improved portability the netbook formfactor affords) who are interesting in taking the time or energy to hackintosh their netbook. These people are saying, as loud as they can "Apple! We love your platform, make some hardware like a netbook and we will buy it! For goodness sakes, look at all the trouble we're going through to simulate it!"
Apple doesn't even have to R&D the netbook formfactor. They don't have to work with chip vendors to come up with lowpower chips and chipsets, or downgraded low power GPUs. They literally have to do nothing except get Jonny Ive to cook up a unibody case and put OSX on them. Charge $400 instead of $350 and they have and Apple netbook.
But Apple can't find the margins in the product line and the equation means that they have no offering for this huge hole in their lineup.