Apple's Nuclear Option Against Microsoft

On Friday, we covered Microsoft's new commercial strategy, and corresponding banner ads. A quick recap is that the spots aim to show the Mac as more expensive than comparable PCs. Of course there's no cost of ownership or duration of the machine considered. These are simple ads aimed at placing doubt in the minds of those about to buy Macs, and frankly, for a lot of people they may prove convincing.

So what is Apple to do? Well, it would be wise to wait a bit, and see if these ads have any appreciable effects. Of course waiting too long, if they are effective could spell doom. What would be the strongest course of action if the ads work? There's a difference between Microsoft and Apple, and it's significant: Microsoft doesn't make computers. Why does that matter? Imagine if you woke up tomorrow to $799 MacBooks, or MacBook Pros starting at $1299. All Apple has to do in a worst-case scenario is lower prices and weather the storm. They have plenty of money in the bank to do so. The same can't be said of all the PC manufacturers. And those manufacturers would probably not be thrilled with Microsoft if they needed to lower prices to compete. I don't think the Lenovos and Compaqs of the world have the same kind of cash sitting around as Apple, and in a slow growth period in the industry, a price war could be devastating to some PC manufacturers.

So while it's unlikely to happen, and unlikely to need to happen, Apple has the ability to wipe out any gains from these ads in short order.

Microsoft Ad Offensive Hits Banner Ads Too

It's a little hard to see, but following up on our earlier post, this is a screen grab of a banner from CNN.com minutes ago. In short, the left side shows how "little" you get with a Mac, while the right side shows all the extra things you can buy by saving money with a PC.

The ad works like a slot machine, with different Windows PCs on the right, and of course, they're always the better value, er, the cheapest. But it's the same thing, right? Right.