That is a pretty poor article. The author makes the declarative summary statement that Apple "is known for having a high mark-up as a result of its trendy brand and innovative products" yet provides no reference as to any component of that statement's validity or any type of inspection to support it. He then basis all his conclusions on that statement. The article is a tautology.

Yes, Apple has higher profit margins, but that is meaningless when discussing relative pricing of the end product. They have higher profit margins because they have more efficient manufacturing processes and greater purchasing muscle than any other computer company. They get components cheaper and put them together for less cost than any other company. So the profit is made by lowering Apple's cost, not raising the purchaser's cost.

A high profit margin does not mean a high-priced computer. It only means that more money is made from that sale. PC manufacturers would love those margins but they are hemmed in by not having the purchasing muscle, not having the manufacturing efficiency and deciding to compete in lower-quality, lower price models.

If Apple can be faulted on pricing, it is the way they are beginning to use their almost monopolistic size to squeeze component and assembly manufacturers. Intel is crapping their pants trying to get any of their chips into the iphone/ipad and willing to offer Apple any price on CPU's for a crumb of Apple's consumer product business. Foxconn employees are committing suicide because they are being worked in conditions that are necessary to support the almost non-existent margins Foxconn agrees to in order to maintain Apple's business. This is the dark side, but it shows where Apple is the gorilla in the computer and consumer product space now. Dell, Sony, HP, Nokia, Motorola, etc are all just dust in the wind.

Back to PC pricing, the test is to find exactly equipped PC and Mac models and compare the prices.

Here is a discussion of Apple computer price (and it is 2yrs old - Apple are even more efficient and a bigger pricing bully now): http://technologizer.com/2010/02/27/pc-or-mac/

Here is a discussion of Apple's pricing advantage over the PC industry: http://daringfireball.net/2010/11/apples_pricing_advantage

But the real end of the debate is that Apple is the most profitable computer company ever. That is because people buy their products. People buy their products because they deliver a value at a price found acceptable. And yes, "design" is part of that equation, as it is with pretty much everything else people buy. You CAN put a price on "design", as everyone who buys clothing, cars, furniture, latte's, etc, attest to every day. Why, when it comes only to computers, people put down a compact, light, user friendly design that looks and feels cool is beyond me. People who want a cheap computer do not buy Apple. That does not bother Apple a bit. People who want a non-cheap computer buy Apple. That bothers Dell a lot.

Disclosure: we have 3 PC's and 2 Macs on board.

Mark