By Jon M. Cohen
With all the speculation running wild about Apple, the Internet is full of rumors. I thought this would be a good time for me to jump in and propose my own predictions for the upcoming Apple media event.
The event is scheduled for September 9th, 2009, and the choice of dates is not by accident. You might ask yourself why this date? What does the number 9 have to do with Apple? Well their is a few things that need to be considered about this date. First, it is the end of the back to school promo. This means Apple should have sold most of the older stock of iPods and Macs. Secondly, if you are somewhat familiar with the music group “The Beatles” then you may also be well aware of the theory of the hidden messages laced in the track “Revolution Number 9“. The theory is that if you play the song backwards then you will find a hidden message. This is a belief that most music fans know about regardless of being Beatles‘ fans or not. With that being said, if Apple has finally been able to add “The Beatles” to its iTunes music store then it would be a great marketing idea to launch this new addition on 9/9/09.
Another idea that I believe to be true is that Apple will add a new model of iPhone 3GS to its lineup. Already featuring a 16GB and 32GB version of the most popular smartphone in today’s market, it is my assumption that an 8GB iPhone 3GS will be released and priced at $99.00 (with contract from cell phone provider). Once again playing on the theme of the Number 9.
I am certain that Apple will add new iPod’s to this product launch event. Included in this will be the new iPod Touch, now being offered with a 64GB capacity. Apple will maintain the 32GB, 16GB and the 8GB model as well. But the new pricing will show that the 8GB iPod Touch will be $99.00, if so, then that will be amazing value! Chances are that the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB editions will feature a camera as well. While the 8GB will be based on the older generation body style.
My next prediction is the addition of a new iMac that will either fit on the lower end of the price spectrum or be a super iMac that will be the new top of the line. But I don’t think they would refresh the whole lineup of iMacs at this point. I don’t have any idea of the new speeds and specs of the iMac, just a feeling that something new is coming.
So, with 9 days to wait for this big announcement I only have one last topic to mention. That would be the Macbook Nano (Macbook Touch). This long time speculated new device that will create a new category in the market. This will be a touch screen device like an iPhone but in either a 6″ or 10″ size category. This new product will most likely be announced on September 9th, 2009 but will not be for sale until January 2010 or June 2010. This 2010 release date will allow developers a chance to create Apps and port over any already existing Apps.
So their you have it, my September 9th, 2009 predictions, like most predictions that people make only time shall tell if I am right or wrong.
I leave you with this final thought; If Apple does want to capitalize on the marketing of “The Beatles” and playoff of the multiple decades of theories of “Revolution Number 9” then it would be a smart marketing idea to have all products revolve around the number 9, from pricing to the number of products introduced. By my count with 3 new iPod Touches, 1 new iPhone, 3 new iPod Nanos/Classics, and 2 new touch screen devices, and a 1 new iMac brings us to 9 new products being released on top of the addition of “The Beatles” to iTunes. Thus a fitting media event that would perfectly represent 09/09/09.
