Mar 03

The Mac Mini: Apple’s Red-Headed Stepchild

Posted in: Apple, desktops, Mac, Today's Chili

Mac

The launch of the latest Mac Mini dispels long-held rumors that the diminutive desktop was about to be discontinued. But Apple’s shabby treatment of the device still
leaves plenty of questions unanswered.

Namely, why did it take so long for Apple to make a relatively minor, incremental upgrade? Why are
there no changes in the case’s overall appearance? Ultimately, why did Apple do
the least it could’ve possibly done with this device?

"It’s almost like a stepchild," said Charlie Wolf, a Needham &
Company analyst. "Apple hasn’t done much in the way of marketing it,
advertising it or doing anything. It’s just sort of there."

Apple traditionally refreshes its computers every six or seven months,
and Mac products typically receive form-factor upgrades after no longer
than four years. That’s why the Mac Mini is the weirdest in the family:
Apple waited about 600 days before it pushed out Tuesday’s minor update, and
it still looks exactly the same (aside from an extra USB port and a new
display port). The previous Mac Mini’s lifespan was so long, in fact, that many
predicted Apple was abandoning the product for good.

And the Mac Mini just gets weirder. There is no clear sense of who the
target market is for the device, how the product is performing in
sales, or why it still even exists.

Wolf provided his very rough estimate that Apple sells about 50,000 Mac
Minis per quarter. He based this guess on Apple’s quarterly sales of
desktops overall, as well as the iMac’s higher popularity. That’s not a
very big number relative to 728,000 desktops Apple said it sold overall in its first quarter of 2009 earnings report.

And though that small number is unsubstantiated, it would make sense
given the responses ZDNet is receiving from Mac Mini owners regarding
what they do with their puny desktops. The examples include cheap
server setups, digital music servers for audiophiles and replacements
for Windows PCs. But, as ZDNet also notes, those are all niche markets.

That’s enough head-scratching. We’re curious, too. Do you have a Mac Mini? If so, why did you buy one and what do you use it for? Feel free to
reply in the comments below.

Update 3/4/2009: We’ve tabulated the first 150 responses below and reported the results in How Do You Love the Mac Mini? Let Us Count the Ways.

See Also:

Photo: markattack/Flickr

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