Microsoft has sponsored a study that concludes the Apple Tax is not only a higher price tag upfront, but that it actually includes higher costs in the long run as well.
Microsoft's attack on Apple is coming from many fronts. It all started with Steve Ballmer's statement a month ago in which he blasted Mac customers for paying an extra $500 for the Apple logo. The battle got really intense when the company's ads started to show consumers like Lauren and Giampaolo hating on Macs. Now, Microsoft is pointing to a study by Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates, one which it sponsored, in a posting on the Windows Experience Blog, that talks about the hidden Apple Tax.
According to the study, the Apple Tax doesn't just come in the form of a higher price tag when making the original purchase; there are higher expenses for actually owning a Mac over a PC. The study takes a hypothetical family of 4, the Bancrofts, and their costs over a five year period to show that customers need to shell out hundreds of dollars extra in order "to get the same hardware and software" they would with a Windows PC. Here's the conclusion the study comes up with:
The biggest tax is, of course, the hardware, but the software re-buy, which is less evident, is pretty important. It's zero on the windows side, because most XP programs work in Vista and will continue to work in Windows 7. The Mac side, however, is pretty pricy because the Bancrofts have to buy a lot of expensive software — more than $1,000 worth — just to do the things they’re used to doing. But also, upgrades and service fees widen the gap between the two worlds over time. Macs are pretty cool, Jack thinks, but at a $3,367 premium over five years? Now, that's not cool!
Macs may be overpriced, but Mac users that I've talked to actually don't mind the higher price tag. They simply just accept it as a premium for a product they actually want. The problem with this study is that those consumers who want a Mac probably are willing to fork over the extra cash to get their Mac and the software they want on it. Furthermore, it would very much surprise me if all Mac users end up using all the same software that they do on Windows.
Semantics aside though, I find the length Microsoft is going to in order to fight back against Apple's ads very interesting. There is no question in my mind that the "Get a Mac" ads have resulted in a small dent in the Windows marketshare, and more importantly, the Windows brand. It's a relief, actually, to see Microsoft fighting back in full force, because when I saw the original Seinfeld ads, I thought Microsoft's counterattack would end up being a joke gone horribly wrong. It turns out that Microsoft is putting a lot of effort in countering Apple's FUD, though some will argue that all the company is really doing is just spreading FUD of its own. Still, I'm happy it's not a one-sided battle anymore.
You can check out the whitepaper for yourself: What Price Cool? (PDF).
http://www.ndpta.com/ click on What Price Cool?
