PCs on Average Half the Cost of Macs

In the world of PCs we have it pretty good. Hardware is pretty inexpensive for the performance across the board. It’s well developed and pretty amazing that you can take a conglomeration of parts drop Windows or Linux in it and have the thing work (usually). Overall this makes PCs cheap enough for the masses. Mac’s on the other hand tend to average almost double the cost of the PC average, according to a story by DailyTech:

“Macs have gone from an average price of $1,432 and $1,574, for desktops and laptops respectively in June '06 to $1,543 and $1,515 respectively in June '08.  While much lower to start, PCs are now even lower in average sale price. The average PC notebook went from $877 to $700,”

I would have thought that the recent change in Mac using Intel hardware would have enabled them to lower their prices, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It has always been comparing Apples to, well, PCs to compare the platforms. Apple controls its production from end to end. Microsoft’s approach is more of a middle of the road approach with its Windows Certified Logo program, and Linux of course goes for the gusto with a completely open approach. Each has it’s advantages and draw backs. What we are seeing now is the result of openness and demand. If Apple wants to catch up it means opening up and letting builders use their OS X on their systems. I can just imagine how that will affect their vaunted stability, even though OS X is Linux at heart with Mac clothing. It will level the playing field and Macs might actually capture a larger market share while reducing their prices.

What do you think? Will we see Apple open it’s OS to system builders?