The "future product transition" that Appleis Peter Oppenheimer referred to recently has led observers to put their money on a revamp of Appleis notebook line, according to BusinessWeek on on Tuesday. In turn, just how the decrease in expected gross margin will translate into new features is still a subject for ongoing speculation.
There are only two ways to cut gross margins, according to BWis Apple observer, Arik Hesseldahl. Cut price or increase the cost of the goods that go into the product.
Apple can afford to do this, Mr. Heseldahl noted, because of the momentum of Mac sales. Apple could boost its market share, especially in the crucial back-to-school season, at the expense of Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
In addition, possibly more likely, Apple could add some special feature that would give them a competitive advantage. That naturally leads to thinking about touch screen, multi-touch and gesture mania on the iPhone.
Just how that would play out is uncertain. iSuppli analyst Jennifer Callgrove thinks that because a touch screen notebook would have a very expensive display, Apple would come out of the gate with a subnotebook, perhaps a 9 to 10 inch screen.
TMO notes that rumors from other sites have suggested a full size screen but a glass trackpad with the multi-touch features of an iPhone.
"Surely Apple will find willing buyers for a multitouch-capable mini-Mac with a full keyboard. The success of the MacBook Air suggests thereis a new willingness at Appleis Cupertino (Calif.) headquarters to fundamentally rethink what a Mac notebook can be," Mr. Hesseldahl noted.
A subnotebook with a touch screen might cannibalize the MacBook Air sales, so itis likely that Apple would, in Mr. Hesseldahlis opinion, keep the price point and size well below the MBA.
Just what direction Apple will go, no one outside of Apple knows. Whatis likely is that the new technologies of the iPhone and the synergy between OS X Leopard and OS X iPhone has Apple thinking about what the next generation notebook computer should be like. If history repeats itself, Apple will catch the entire industry off guard once again.