During Apple’s earnings conference call on Wednesday, Cook clearly put to rest any idea of a cheap iPhone Nano or a mini Apple laptop in the form of a netbook, at least for the time coming. But the sad fact is that, as clear as this might sound, analysts and Apple fans just can’t help themselves speculating over some imaginary new Apple lines of devices.
Every time some new type of cool technology penetrates the market, analysts from well-respected companies (which I won’t name out of matters of taste), make up out of thin air, and often citing sources from the supply chain (China?) that Apple is developing such a device as well.
But they’ve been wrong so many times by now. Take the case of the iPhone nano: the rumor started back in 2007 and continued throughout 2008 and still lightly hovers. Thankfully though, Tim Cook stressed yesterday that Apple won’t produce low-end phones and that it doesn’t want to be the market leader when it comes to the number of unit sold. Crystal clear for me, but let’s see how analysts take it.
Apple fanboys (and why not, fangirls) have their own fault in propagating this rumor bonanza also. Their case is the Apple Netbook, which has been rumored all round 2008, and of course, never materialized. And it won’t either, as Tim Cook said yesterday, yet again, Apple doesn’t know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk. Oh well, give it a month or two and surely some new mockups will make their way on the web. Can’t wait for that!
I’ve been trying lately to come up with a half-decent reasoning behind why analysts and fanboys alike enjoy spreading this kind of rumors. And I’ve got a couple of theories so far – analysts spread rumors, because if they actually (or shall I say accidentally) come true, it does well to their reputations and their company’s alike. And if the rumors prove to be only rumors – they’re just analysts – not crystal ball readers, right? As for fanboys, spreading such a rumor usually does well to one site’s number of visits.
If you want more of these unfounded, yet sometimes-juicy rumors make sure you check out my Top Ten Bogus Tech Rumors of 2008.