The good stuff is still selling

Apple Inc, the computer and gadgets company, is reporting exceptional sales. Again. What about the recession then?

So what that the sales are being driven by the cheaper 13″ harder body (yeah - because I managed to buckle my aluminum case with a gentle knock ) MacBook Pro. Or the new iPhone is whipping off the shelves and out of the warehouses serving the online store at the rate of many, very many.

The point here is that Apple is showing great growth in a recession. This is a period where the consumer supposedly has snapped his purse shut, where the credit card folks are turning off the tap, where the banks are not lending out money anymore.

For the rare person reading this who has not heard of Apple, their products are expensive. A 13″ little fella laptop sells at $1 199.00 for the entry level one. And a nice little $1 499 bill will be yours for the more powerful chappie.

And the iPhone, not exactly a give away price and you have to commit yourself to a fairly lengthy phone contract. Premium priced toy. No doubt about it.

And your point, I can hear you ask?

If it’s a recession with no money or credit available how does a company with an extensive library of premium priced products and toys get to show such strong sales?

Doesn’t that kind of put paid to the whole recession idea? Maybe what is really happening is that consumers are just tired of rubbish. Possibly last year’s turmoil in September made the consumer get some sense.

If we are going to spend hard earned money, we want to spend it on a cool design, a tool with great benefits and yes features as well, a computer that doesn’t break down all the time and runs a fabulous operating system, and a phone that does just about everything except boil water for your coffee. And they’re working on that. (You can order one on the way to the coffee shop - using a little app - and pick it up as it’s ready for you… Close enough?)

Possibly all the recession has done is make us rethink our spending. We now keep our wallet closed unless the product is outstanding. We have become discerning again.

It could just be good for us all in the long run. Excellence rather than rubbish. Wonderful design rather than blandness. Exciting new technology rather than all-so ran features. It’s almost too much to cope with!