Apple Computers G4 Snafu :: Essays Papers

Apple Computers G4 SnafuIn fulfillment of the periodical paper assignment, I have elect a recent story concerning Apple Computer Inc. as the topic for the first paper.Summary of SituationAfter setting off a invade of consumer complaints earlier this week, Apple Computer Inc tried to make amends Friday by reversing a retroactive price increase for a small number of customers who had pre-ordered its cuttingborn top-of-the-line G4 PowerMacs. Earlier this week, Apple said it was unable to offer the G4 PowerMac model equipped with a 500-megahertz processor until early next year because of supply constraints at its principal(prenominal) chipmaker, Motorola Inc. Apple then ratcheted up the price on the 350, 400, and 450 MHz models that it could supply, trying to offset the lost potential revenues that the 500 MHz G4 would provide.Ethical ImplicationsI believe that Apple might have broke even concerning this ordeal however, lets examine the specifics of both sides of what transpired h ere When the company determined that the supply of 500 MHz chips was non going to meet the demand requested, they reconfigured its G4 family of desktop computers, offering systems with processors running at 350, 400 or 450 MHz -- but at higher prices -- instead of the headmaster 400, 450 or 500 MHz machines. After the company received numerous complaints from customers, both loyal Apple supporters, and potential new customers, the company retracted its new restructuring, allowing the original pricing and megahertz versions to stay.Apple may have lost the faith of even some extreme supporters. Bill Bryant, who runs a health-care consulting business in Dallas, said he has been a Macintosh loyalist for 20 years. ...Im thinking of buying a Dell or something. Some people are saw its time to go to the dark side, he added, referring to PCs running on Microsofts Windows operating system and processors.On the other hand, at least this was nothing close to the Intel fiasco of the early Nineties. I feel Apple handled this situation much more smoothly it decided much faster that it could not incur a privation back onto customers.How the Situation Should Have Been HandledI feel the company made the right ethical decision, despite the fact that this situation should not have happened at all. I think the decision to restructure the G4 line around the lack of the 500 MHz chip, and the corresponding price increase of available models was a real bad business decision, and possibly unethical.