They do compete with those, but not on price. That’s content competition, Sony’s $2000 computers aren’t putting price pressure on Apple’s $2000 computers, once you get up to the high end people aren’t that worried about 50 buck plus or minus. Dell tends to be grossly over priced (there’s a reason I could undercut them by nearly 50%), so it’s not a surprise that the legendarily expensive Apple could actually undercut them. It’s really kind of amazing Dell stays in business, their prices stink, their service stinks, their “utilities” are nothing but annoying, and yet... The one good thing I can say about the Poweredge T610s they’ve recently added to our lab is the front plate is heavy enough to be used as a weapon, and if only I could find the guy that decided Dell should ship unsigned network driver I would demonstrate the usefulness of that front plate ;)
I’ve got no problem with where Apple plays in the market. It was just brought up that their per purchase profit margin is over twice what the industry standard is and I was giving one of the primary reasons. When you’ve utilized other market tools to not have to play the price game you’re going to make more profit. It’s not a bad thing, it’s not really even a good thing (unless you work for Apple), it’s just a thing, Apple has separated themselves from price competition and subsequently gets the higher margins that come with making that separation. Some folks, not you, seem to find the idea of Apple being a normal corporation subject to normal market forced frightening.
Actually, between Apple and Sony it's in the hundreds. Check out their Z-series notebooks vs. the MacBook Pros. In general, just because people complain about the price of Macs shows me that price is a factor. Everything's a factor in commerce, including brand loyalty.
The one good thing I can say about the Poweredge T610s they’ve recently added to our lab is the front plate is heavy enough to be used as a weapon
You should see the faceplate on an R900, although it's a little unwieldy for your proposed use.