Apple resellers will have a lot of marketing support from the company when the dual processor version of the Power Mac G5 begins shipping, according to a company executive.
“”There is a huge marketing and partnership opportunity,”” said Mary Percat, channel strategy and development manager at
Apple Canada Inc.
They include two direct mail campaigns — one using the vendor’s database of leads, he other using names provided by authorized resellers – inviting people to resellers for G5 demonstrations, a CD for conducting demonstrations, customized sales materials and sales training.
In addition, those who show up for demos will receive a stopwatch – a tie into the speed theme the marketing emphasizes – and be entered for a draw for a G5.
She wouldn’t say how much Apple is spending on the Canadian campaign.
“”We’re really trying to support our reseller community in a robust way by taking the marketing cost out of their pockets.””
The dual-processor models will begin shipping shortly. Single-processor versions have already been released. Both are aimed at graphics and audio professionals as well as the scientific community.
However, a Toronto reseller which buys direct from Apple says customers may have to wait more than a month for the machines.
Matthew Rondina, computer sales manager at Number 9 Technologies, said Tuesday the vendor’s corporate site indicates a four to six week wait for orders.
Still, there’s a “”huge demand”” for the singe processor version desktops, he said.
“”It’s amazing technology,”” he said. “”It’s a step up Apple has needed over the competition for a little while now.
“”They’ve put the PC back in its place.””
The dual-processor version, which has a suggested retail price of $4,199, comes with 2.0Ghz 64-bit PowerPC processors; dual independent 1 Ghz front side busses; 512 MB of 128-bit DDR memory running at 400 Mhz; a 160 GB serial ATA hard drive; and an ATI Radeon 9600 64 MB graphics card.
The single processor G5 can be bought with either a 1.6 Ghz processor, 265 MB of memory and an 80 GB hard drive for $2,799, or a 1.8 Ghz processor, 512 MB of memory and a 160 GB hard drive for $3,399.
One of the benefits resellers can tout about the G5 is that it can take up to 8GB of memory, said Bruce Hough, an Apple Canada consulting engineer.