When they’re not hand-wringing over the recent drop in Apple’s share price, Mac enthusiasts have been transfixed lately by the mystery product, code-named "brick," that’s due for release later this month.
Some bloggers and pundits have suggested it might be a new iteration of Apple TV or an updated Mac Mini. But according to a report on 9to5Mac.com, "brick" refers not to what it is, but how it’s made. The Web site, which cites an anonymous source, says the code name has to do with a manufacturing process for Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro lines of laptops. Apple (AAPL) will build the notebook out of a single piece of carved-out aluminum—a brick.
Whatever it signifies, the new computer may be precisely what Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer meant when he referred to a "new product transition that I can’t talk about yet" during Apple’s most recent earnings conference call in July. The transition is among the reasons Apple said it expects to make lower gross profit margins (BusinessWeek.com, 7/22/08) during the next several quarters.
But if the new product does prove to be a notebook made from a block of aluminum, how much pressure are Apple’s margins likely to undergo? More to the point, would Apple’s brick be a brick? Read more...
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If Apple can do this then they should go in for it for it is will establish their supremacy in this sector and it will take some time for others to catch up. If they are successful in pulling this of then it speaks a lot about how the business is being managed and how loyal employees are to their company for no information is being leaked.