“Windows 7 officially launches in two days,” Wilcox reports. “But what has the geek world been babbling about for the last 24 hours? Apple. Firstly, there were rumors of new iMac, revamped white MacBook, new Mac mouse and updated Mac mini — all products Apple unveiled early this afternoon. Secondly, late yesterday, there were Apple’s blow-out fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter results: $1.67 billion profit and 3.05 million Macs shipped, the majority notebooks. Apple outperformed Wall Street’s consensus, blasting past the econolypse’s effects like it was business as usual.”
Wilcox reports, “Exactly who is talking about Windows 7 today or will tomorrow? Or gasp, on launch day — Oct. 22nd?”
MacDailyNews Take: Luddites with a fetish for freshly-painted antiques?
Wilcox continues, “Apple’s new product release timing is clearly deliberate, designed to pull attention away from Windows 7. But Apple also is looking to pull away Windows PC sales at the high end, where Macs are strongest and PCs are weakest. Surely, Apple executives realize that the PC industry is hoist with its own netbook petard… Netbooks are a plague, because they dramatically lower ASPs and margins and pull away sales from real laptops.”
Wilcox writes, “Yesterday with record Mac sales and today with new Mac products, Apple has declared — at least for holiday 2009 — war on the entire PC industry.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Elsic1975a” for the heads up.]
Maybe they’ll announce the iTablet on the 22nd. That would truly obliterate Windows 7!
Yeah, but at least those Windows users will have their “launch parties”…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Looks like the WOW started 2 days early.
The only question is when do the MacBook Pros get upgraded to quad core?
Ah, yes. TODAY it’s all over the Web about Apple. TOMORROW will be in the newspapers (and more detailed Web articles about Apple hitting on all cylinders). Beautifully timed pre-emptive strike. Well done, Apple!
An Amazing New Apple TV and a 16GB iPod touch with an iPhone 3Gs type Camera would just kill all Windows 7 News Buzz.
It would be like oh and Microsoft released Windows Vista 2 or 7 or something unimportant today.
Wilcox is embarassing himself. Apple’s earnings release date is like clockwork. It’s the same week as last year. What is his problem? And, of course, Apple does release new product in as many quarters as possible, to keep up the buying momentum, and in order to maximise the impact, they tend to launch new product close to the beginning of a quarter. Not always, but if they can manage it, they do. I mean, these products are not going to launch before the back-to-school buying season, as they like to use that to move out old inventory. Product launches are very predictable nowadays, and they are not predicated upon MS.
Mojave Vista 7™ — There’s gonna be a “Wow!” this time! Really! This time we mean it!™
Headline alternative: “Apple eats Microsoft’s launch”
@Hee, hee
If you are stuck with Windows, any time that they miraculously manage to get Windows to suck less, (even just an itsy bitsy less) it is reason to party. Have another drink! It helps you to .. .. .. .. .. forget.
“… war on the entire PC industry.”
No prisoners. No mercy.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cool smirk” style=”border:0;” />
I have to say, the analyst-speak in that article sounds completely contrived to me. Apple launched the slew of new products less because of Windows 7 and more to do with the iMac et al being ready – especially after the earnings report to investors.
People planning for Windows 7 will probably buy it on the 22nd regardless of Apple’s moves in the market, to be honest. As such, those buyers don’t constitute much of a threat to Apple’s overall business as other consumers will have set out beforehand (plus current Mac users) to buy the new products from Cupertino anyway.
war.
“When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.”
~ Sir Winston Churchill
@ LateRegistrant – HA! Brilliant!
With Apple’s Q4 financial blowout and this new product set, one can only imagine what Q1 2010 (the holiday quarter) is going to be. This *is* the tipping point, and we’re watching it happen.
Super excited today I just ordered two i7 iMacs.
Time to hoist the Skull & Crossbones above the Mac development building once again!
Well, the PC industry did try to bury Apple. Now, the PC industry wishes it were Apple. Funny how 10 years completely changed the landscape.
When Apple shows off the Mac tablet, that will crush the little Netbooks sales. If the tablet is a mobile media device that also runs the 85,000 apps, it is game over.
Emm, with the gut-wrenching realization that the new iMacs still don’t have matte screens, the forthcoming Windows 7 launch is a timely reminder that the Windows alternative, whilst not as good as Snow Leopard, may not be as pathetic as it used to be years ago. And they have matte screens. I’m not the only one who feels this way. See the close to 600 detailed petition comments at http://macmatte.wordpress.com – and add your comment there if you feel the same way.
@ MacMatte …so the lack of a matte option for iMac monitors somehow makes Windows 7 a more attractive alternative? Eh?
I’m guessing you went to the Non-Sequitur School of Logic…
Seriously, enough with the matte screens. Going glossy is more about prepping us for our Multi-Touch future. Capactive touchscreens need a protective layer, and by every example Apple has provided, glass makes Multi-Touch work like magic.
Something else to think about:
I wonder how many netbooks were returned just to go and buy a MacBook? Apples sales were dominated by their laptops… makes you wonder…
Amusing — but, isn’t it more plausible that instead, it was MS who manipulated Windows 7’s launch date in an effort to dampen the expected Apple buzz? Or to get some separation from Snow Leopard’s release? Or to be closer to Halloween to spur sales of Ballmer masks?
P.S. They did say that 50% of laptop sales WERE new to the platform (which reads, dissatisfied NETBOOK users, if you ask me)
I wonder what the margins look like when they are low and then the customer returns the product. They can’t sell it as new, so the margins are even LOWER… man it sucks to be in Dell’s shoes right now…
ROFLMAO
“hoist with its own netbook petard…”
From the French “to break wind.”
That one Shakespearean phrase made the whole article worth reading.
A friend was passing through town the other day and picked up 3 EeeeKPC (whatever) netbooks for some friends back in Bulgaria.
He had no idea what a netbook was, but when I explained: low-price, slow, small keyboard, low-res screen and no optical drive he grimaced and made some funny sounds.
What’s the point?
They’re cheap and small.
Not worth it he said.
He is NOT a Mac guy, either!
The entire generic PC clone industry slit their own throats pushing the netbook fad.
The only saving grace MS has is that they have locked that monopoly down. The Gov allows it to continue. So, sad as it is to say, Windows 7 will eclipse the Mac OS X sales within a couple of months or so. Then you’ll see the MS FUD machine go into full bragging rights gear.
The bottom line, like it or not, is that Windows 7 will be a great hit when it comes to millions sold. Not because anyone can seriously argue that it is better than Snow Leopard, but because of the existing Windows Vista and XP users.
Regarding matt screens!
I was also totally against them, but since I have my new MacBook Pro…. there is now way going back…. I love it!
So much better, and I do design work 8 days a week!
The quarterly report call was not timed. It was scheduled without consideration of the the Windows 7 launch. However, the release of these new Apple products (especially the new iMacs) was definitely timed to be a few days before the Windows 7 launch. They were ready and waiting, and could have been released during the last three or four weeks. I think if there was indication of strong “pre-orders” for Windows 7 or PCs with free Windows 7 upgrades, Apple may have released them earlier.
However, Apple did not make big dog and pony show out of it. I think Apple was trying to deflate the Windows 7 launch without making it seem like they were trying too hard. According to Apple, Windows 7 is just a new version of the same old Windows; no big deal. Let the media do the job of spreading the word about the new Macs, along the news that a record-breaking number of Macs (over 3 million) were sold last quarter, and bury the pre-launch Windows 7 news.
Apple is where it is because it created it’s own planet and stays on it’s own planet…itdoesn’t worry about M$ at all…their releases today are only to plant the seed for Christmas before Thanksgiving…that’s it…nothing to do with Windows 7.
What I think is funny is all the questions Ballmerhead is going to have to be asked and answer about Apple during their 7 launch…for years he always did the laugh obscure act, but now everyone knows Apple is a major player in multiple areas, regardless of their absence in corporate. Now, he looks stupid laughing Apple off…market share is all he can tout, but
Apple’s market cap is catching them on only 10% market share. Next up…Corporate…that’s all thatz left. The rest of the industry is working soooo hard and Apple is the only one with any room for growth. Long-term vision and ducks in a row did it…now everyone can only play catchup. HP is killing themselves to do something revolutionary and invent to be different just to stay where they are. At the end of the road…it was the OS that drove the PC industry and it will be the OS that kills it off. Michael Dell is happy that netbooks will be in the history books instead of him to blame for what killed the Window’s licencing.
@Jumbei/Zumtobel,
Nevertheless, Mac steadily gains market share and Windows bleeds market share. Just a thought.
@ Wilcox:
big difference between a company’s timely product introduction and war. Journalism schools now teach us to use the most extreme pseudo-synonym one can to describe everyday events?
When you use the john, is it War Against The Entire Plumbing Industry?
“Regarding matt screens!”
I met his sifter.
Ash. “Super excited today I just ordered two i7 iMacs.”
27”???? If so GRRRRREEEAAATTTTT!!!!!!
I thought the preemptive strike was initiated with the launch of SL
@Mike,
With me after a night of drinking and Taco Hell – it is.
@Mike- And woe, I was death to many a septic system, and the pipes did groan and gurgle. Quickly flashed my plunger in its dire effort to cause the noxious waters to recede.
Alas, Little Caesar’s Pizza had its revenge on me.
@Spark;
I’d be happier if Apple hoisted Clarus.
DogCows to the Moo!
I am curious, MacMatte, but what were you doing when all there was was glossy CRT screens?
The only thing that would have obliterate the windows 7 launch would have been if the iTablet had launched on the same thing. An updated iMac and a mouse with new features ain’t gonna do it.
But that’s not going to happen because the iTablet event is going to be a major MAJOR event. The press media would need at least a week’s advance notice prior to the event to prepare themselves. It’s too late to do it.
Microsoft is going to have their day on the 22nd.
Excuse the bad english. “launched on the same thing”. I meant, launched on the same day. And the word should be obliterated not “obliterate”.
Windows 7 better?
The HOW starts NOW!
Glossy again!!! Can you rip the glass of these things – like you could on the last lot? Looks like that’ll be the only way to get a half-decent screen to work on.
Ahhh, I remember the days when Apple understood their customer’s needs and met them.
Don’t want windows on your Mac?… try closing the blinds!
A certain writer on another Apple-oriented website, who recently threw a public temper tantrum and switched from Macs to Windows, is now back on the Mac, but unsurprisingly, back to bashing Apple’s “evolution” instead of the “Revolution” she’d prefer. Maybe she’s got the hots for Windows 7- or just can’t get no satisfaction.
I could nitpick, too- no Firewire on the new Macbook, once again, and I’d prefer express cards.
But, c’mon- good week for Apple! I want a new iMac!
Wouldn’t it be something if the new iMacs did in fact have multitouch screen but that it’s not yet activated until sometime soon in the future? Apple has shipped products with hardware features simply not activated, then with a software update all kinds of great things have been enabled.
@ NikonFox
Apple would never ship a product that required the user to hold their arms up all day to touch a vertically oriented screen. That sounds like something Microsoft (and hardware partner) would conceive, and then abandon when no one buys it.
Apple’s touch-screen computer (if you don’t count the iPhone and iPod touch) is this rumored tablet computer that’s coming in 2010.
You people need to learn more about marketing.
The main point is to steal Microsoft’s thunder, not to stop people from buying W7. They want people to talk more about Apple’s products, rather than Windows, when Windows 7 is released. This will surely piss off Microsoft and Ballmer, and cripple their advertising, regardless of anything.
And of course, there will be those who are impressed enough by the new products to reconsider their choice of PCs, but I believe that is secondary. This will also slightly make Microsoft look bad for promoting cheap PCs after people realize the impressive value Apple offers with their products. I mean seriously, who ‘wouldn’t’ want that 27-inched beauty that comes with the first mouse of its kind?
Overall, W7 will have a greater global impact on the PC industry. However, as usual, there will be a large % of dissatisfied customers, and those of which who were tempted by Apple’s new products, but not enough to stop them from buying a W7 machine, will wish they bought one instead, and know what to buy next time. That’s how it always goes with the people I persuaded to make the move.
Bottom line: The psychological impact of the timing is deep.
I agree. I have never understood why people think that it would be cool to reach up and touch their computer screen to control the computer. Apple has really done a great job implementing the multi-touch with the Macbooks and now with the Magic Mouse. Apple just knows how to make features useful. Microsoft on the other hand, takes an good idea and completely ruins it.
@ Mr. Reeee
Most people I know with NetBooks love them and this is the problem. They pick them up at Walmart or get them free with phone contracts. It will limit a generation to small screen, low speed, low capacity applications. It will also create the image that PCs aren’t very capable, powerful or friendly. Plus it is crippling PC manufacturer profits, so they have to drop their prices or drop their quality.
Apple is wise not to play in this game.
The actual expression is “hoisted ON its own …. petard” not “with”.
Here endeth the lesson.
I am not going to comment until Arnold Ziffel has weighed in.
I think it’s mean of Apple to pick on Microsoft (and Steve Balmer in particular) today, as they’ll be in mourning at the sad passing of Vic Mizzy – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8315797.stm
RIP Vic – Fester’s missing you already…
To editors of MDN: I know you don’t like MS Windows (I don’t like it, too, and think Apple Mac OS X is the way to go for computers).
However, be realistic! Windows 7 is not a Vista service pack! It includes powerful features like Surface. This does not make it superior to Mac OS X Snow Leopard (or the next version of Mac OS X). But I am a little tired of your “Microsoft’s Vista service pack, er, Windows 7” routine! It is beginning to sound a bit dumb to keep repeating this.
Good move, Microsoft: planning your Windows 7 launch 2 days after Apple’s quarterly results announcement (which many expected to be spectacular).
All this reading makes me wanna boot up my Amiga…
Way to go Apple. Keep it up. I like the way you think. Always stay a step ahead of your competition.
@Sir Bill Gates
THIS
IS
APPLE!
(with appropriate spittle flying through the teeth)
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
What do you want MDN to do, pretend like Windows 7 isn’t a Vista service pack then?
No thanks, I like truthful reporting
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
Apple still needs to make a netbook… I don’t care.. I cant afford $999 I am a recently laid off struggling student, it hurts to think about $299 for a netbook, then I have to upgrade the ram, and get a opticle drive… Apple could kill the netbook scene if they wanted to, but $999 is way too much for me.
they need to do it before google does their netbook os… people buy netbooks to type on, the tablet even at a great price wont offer the typing speed that a netbook would, so Apple PLEASe, steve are you listening? make a tablet with a keyboard seporate form teh mainscreen, it can be a screen, fine, but I need a seporate surface to type on, or you can make a single screen tablet or “Maclet” AND a netbook, use the same screen to save money, pelase a netbook please steve.. $299 to cheap for ya? $499 me all day long, I would rather have your $499 netbook than a used dell from ebay… CMON!!!!!! help me out..
@ Mormegil,
Ah yes, shouted in rage by King Leojobis, the sweat dripping down his glistening, smooth, muscled chest.
And the incredulous look on emissary Ray Ozzie’s face as he falls backwards into the bottomless pit of despair.
Priceless.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”snake” style=”border:0;” />
@Omegalink
The problem with “Service Pack” Win7 is that Vista’s kernel (IIRC) reports as verion 6.0, and W7’s reports as 6.1 … not 7.0
And if you really read the professional journals, you’ll also know that Microsoft has been trying to walk a very delicate line between marketing Win7 as “New!” to Retail Consumers while simultaneously pitching it as “Not New!” to IT Managers.
The basic reason behind making it v6.1 is enshrined in how MS does business: they push off the job (and cost) of new driver development to the hardware producers.
As such, any time that there’s a major change (eg, “6.0”/Vista), there’s a period of pain while vendors (not MS) perform this work…and the period of pain is now quite lengthly, because MS has a long history of multiple & late changes – – which as a result, many device driver authors wait until the product literally ships as the sign that MS has finally gotten to a stable ‘Golden Master’ for which they won’t be wasting their time writing code that might be OBE’d by major changes occurring after MS had supposedly frozen the code and locked everything down.
As such, the way for MS to avoid having these driver pains is to not have an update that breaks stuff. That’s why Win7 is 6.1 and technically a minor update to Vista – – they purposefully are avoiding requiring changes to the underlying core hardware drivers, so as to reduce transition pain.
Granted, this doesn’t exclude some new bells & whistles being added…and that’s essentially all “Surface” is IMHO: its an App that does some relatively interesting things but only because there is support for a multi-touch interface.
YMMV on just how profound this is, but I probably should point out that I have multi-touch supported on the mousepad on my 2005 vintage 12″ Powerbook G4…and this is while it is still running 10.4 (Tiger): yes, that OS is from 2005 and two revisions ago.
So should I then say: “Welcome to 2005, Microsoft”, or would this appear to be too condescending and sarcastic?
-hh