“Even though CEO Tim Cook said there were plenty of reasons (5) for the decline of Mac growth, including iMac constraints, Mac sales for the year are heading toward ‘flat,” Seth Weintraub reports for 9to5Mac.
“While not making enough iMacs for Christmas shopping was a significant and uncharacteristic operational misstep, it doesn’t account for the significant drop in Mac sales overall year-over-year and even sequentially,” Weintraub reports. “iMacs and desktops in general have been a declining component of the Mac market as MacBooks take over the space, so even a significant drop in iMac sales wouldn’t account for a 20-percent drop year-over-year and sequentially.”
Weintraub reports, “Without a major hardware change or drastic price cuts, it is hard to imagine Apple having another 5 million Mac quarter. It would seem that, like iPods a few years ago, Macs have peaked… The good news is that Apple is cannibalizing its own Mac growth (as well as overall PC growth) with its own high-margin iPads—and lots of them.”
Much more, including some interesting graphs, in the full article here.
Yes.
Absolutely, provided the Macs are designed with the best of current technologis and are fairly priced….and there are NO f’ing delays in shipping.
and yes
Of course.
DAH …. They sold over 4 million in what amounted to 6-7 weeks, AT BEST, they were available …… Next quarter they should sell at least 6 million, if the manufacture process can improve …..
In my estimation, Apple should of keep previous model available alongside the new ones and if they had, for sure they sell five million, easy …..
True. I ordered two 27 inch iMacs for work on 8/8/2012. Never shipped. Called before they announced the new version, and apple had actually CANCELLED my original order. We had to reorder with the new model.
Preordered the day they were available to purchase.
Delivery date kept getting pushed back..then had a solid date for Jan 18th.
No show..now we have no delivery date..just “processing order”.
The fact that they cancelled the original order is crap. They didn’t even give the option to stay with the old model.
I have one for sale…..
27″ 2.7 GHz i5
12 GBs RAM
2 TB hard drive
1 year left on Applecare
I plan on having Apple check some abnormalities on the screen to repair/replace (you can only see them during startup) and then put on ebay around tax rebate time.
I will then buy a monitor and make my MacBook Pro the only computer….other than my 2010 Mini for my entertainment server….and the 1.25GHz g4 iMac that is for picture display and looks…..and my original 20″ iMac 2 GHz Core Duo that needs its sorry-ass video card’s solder reflowed. Oh, and the three G3 iMacs I have in storage……
And how will we identify you as the seller? You have my attention…
There is a ‘towertone’ on ebay. THAT is not me. I have no idea why someone used that moniker, and I haven’t decided on an exact date yet, but I will drop a hint if I keep up the courage to go through with it…..
Ordered my 27 inch iMac 12:01 am PST Nov. 30,2012. Estimated delivery dates 12-18-2012 through 12-27-2012. It was delivered 12-17-2012. Earlier than projected. But I literally ordered it the first few seconds that you could. I check delivery times later that day and they had slipped to much later dates. So you had to be quick pulling the trigger if you wanted it anytime soon.
Refurb May 2011 iMacs, ready to ship from Apple: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac
I still hear lots of traditionally PC people saying that their next computer will be a Mac. I think that maybe people are just buying tablets and holding off upgrading their computers. I love my iPads (spend 90% of my computer time on the iPad), but still prefer my Mac for intricate work. I think that this will be true for most people. I’m not sure that the Mac market has peaked (However, I know I am biased).
No need for computers unless you need them
And I thought Yogi Berra was dead.
Its Deja Vu all over again! 🙂
Design a Mac that can be manufactured at that level.. then, no problem. Jony thinks the whole company is his personal playground. If some cool nee process comes up, he has to use it. Even when there is no benefit to the end user. It’s madness.
Yea
I guest-lectured a class at Harvard Law School last week. 25 students, 25 macs, seriously. Despite the magic of the iPad, I think people will want Macs to do really high-productivity work for many years to come, and with a new generation of young people who have grown up on Apple wanting them, I think there is still tremendous Mac grow to come.
The answer is obvious – only if they are available. It is nothing short of a colossal blunder that Tim Cook introduced a great new iMac without any to sell. And, the beat goes on. Retailers don’t have any, Apple Retail Stores’ managers don’t know when they will have a supply, on line ordering is guessing they can deliver one in about a month, etc., etc. What happened to the promised MacPro after years of ignoring the demand for the greatest machine of its kind ever made? There’s an entire web site, dedicated Facebook community, and petitions with thousands of names pleading for a new MacPro. Tim said last year they were making one and it would be for sale this year. I asked two Apple Retail Store managers when and they looked puzzled and both said they never heard Tim say that. They wanted to know if I was interested in one of the old ones they had on hand. Miserable, inept, and clueless are three words now best describing the management of what used to be a great company. Tim Cook must go!
I need new Mac pros. I have been waiting a long time to order them. But Apple just doesn’t really care about professionals anymore. And Apple blundered by eliminating the stock of current iMacs before the production of newer iMacs were ready to ship. Terrible mistake. Cost them revenue and hurt their earnings call. That’s a supply/production issue Tim. And an Apple store manager is not going to know much sooner than anyone else when the Mac Pros will be shipping.
Yes, Apple shall sell far more then 5 Million Macs in a quarter.
How?
It will not be called a Mac. But will be a smart TV.
The iMac is already very suitably a Smart TV; as is provides all the modern ways of our day for entertainment.
Yet not until Apple does do a convergence with the iMac and AppleTV and offer the iTV will regular households purchase a MAC for their living rooms.
there will be no -branded, standalone television set.
Apple will continue to sell Macs. Older Windows computers will continue to be replaced by Macs as well.
Why do these people not understand that technology is bought in waves?
Because disingenuous doom ‘n gloom is so much more fun.
the consensus is in.
If Apple straightens out its supply chain with fewer bottlenecked & remote Asian suppliers, launches a state-of-the-art Mac Pro, and/or launches a middle-scale Mtower, then sales will easily top 5 million this upcoming quarter.
If, on the other hand, Cook and company concentrate all their efforts on screen size & shape changes in portable products, then Mac sales will stagnate. No rocket science there.
If they sell 5 million PC’s, there is certainly no reason not to be selling 5 million Macs. No matter what. I’ve still got mine. Next purchase is an iPad. But when the Mac goes, it gets replaced by another Mac.
… may be shrinking, but Apple’s share of that is growing. The question remains … what does this mean for the numbers? I expect the desktop and laptop markets to stabilize, then resume growth – while tablets maintain the bulk of the overall market. No telling when this will result in another 5 million Mac quarter, though.
Not if they up the iPad to 128gb
… they bump the iPad to 128GB, or 256GB, or even 512GB! There are things a Desktop can easily do that a Tablet cannot do quite so easily. My wife will assure you there are also things the Tablet can do just fine, thank you. Because of what most consumers WANT to do compared to what Tablets do quite well, Tablets will outsell Desktops.
You DO know that mainframes are selling more now than when the first “mini” computer or the first “micro”(PC) computer was sold? Their share of the market may have dropped from 100%, but their numbers are STILL GROWING.
Maybe Apple should shift from Quarterly to Trimesters? That way they could report more Macintosh Computers sold. Next year, they could go to bi-annually, annually in 2015, then combine 2016 and 2017 after that… I mean why even bother try making numbers clear for Wall Street?
Apple should not worry about selling 5 million Macs a quarter. The goal should be 15 to 20 million. Why? Two reasons:
Windows 8 is less popular than Vista because of the strange interface.
Large number of XP and Vista users who are looking for a better solution not that their machines are near the end of life.
Here is what I posted on MacDailyNews October 26, 2012
The Apple Macintosh is doing fine. However, it could be doing so much better.
I have noticed a dramatic slowdown in the growth of Mac’s in the last year. In fact, I have seen several clients abandon the Mac while keeping their iPhones & iPads.
Why? Several reasons:
1. New Mac’s no longer have the same value proposition.
– No longer include iWork, iWeb, iDvd in the price.
– Loss of the very popular email greeting cards.
– Inability of iMovie to create AVCHD disks.
– Higher price, required to purchased external dvd.
2. iMac is no longer the only all in one design. Clients hate cables. iMac now requires a cable for dvd drive.
Apple needs to do the following:
1. Make the Mac a turn key solution – clients want this!
– Include a new version of iWeb (small businesses loved
having an easy web publisher included). Include a
shopping cart through Apple to encourage e-commerce.
– Give all Mac users a .mac account for building web
pages. This was great advertising!
– Include enhanced iWork with every new mac. iWork
needs:
1. Index generation in Pages.
2. Cover pages with ability to center vertically.
3. Pages needs to offer academic & professional formatting.
4. Mail merge improvements, include an enhanced
flat file database similar to MS Works 4.5
This program is still huge in small business, 15 years later! Currently, there is no acceptable alternative.
5. Allow screen to be centered in Pages. Offset page
drives MS Word users crazy.
– Create or purchase an alternative to Quicken.
– Enhance iMovie so it can create AVCHD DVDs. I have
already had several clients ignore the Mac or leave because
they need to distribute HD DVDs. DVDs are cheap
and users of all ages understand how to use them.
– Restore the very popular email greeting cards. PC
users really loved this feature. It was inexpensive
advertising! Build this into iPhoto.
– In OS X:
1. Ability to set a program to open full window or full
screen. Long time Windows users freak out when
they discover they can’t set the program to open
full window or full screen.
2. Bring the option for aero snap to the Mac.
None of these features would make the Mac into a Windows machine. The first several features are restoring popular features that Apple abandoned much to the distress of many of my clients.
The last two features are only options that would make the Windows crowd give the Mac a second look.
c’mon apple…
Friday, October 26, 2012 – 8:34 pm · Reply
@old tech
Read more at http://macdailynews.com/2012/10/26/the-time-is-here-for-os-x-to-put-a-serious-dent-in-windows/#OesI4Ah6HDGIlG6A.99
Correction:
Now instead of not
Large number of XP and Vista users who are looking for a better solution NOW that their machines are near the end of life.
Good list, Old Tech!
There are a lot of users who would like Apple to stop abandoning value-added features for the sake of meaningless change. And Apple software has indeed stagnated in capability and quality. There is no excuse for Apple itself not to deliver competitive software. The Mac will not die unless Apple fails to innovate — unfortunately, Cook & Co have been stumbling a lot lately.
The real question is what will the anal-ysts next cite as an issue that effects the stock price next
Still want a new imac, but not until i can walk in and buy it, and walk out with it. My 2009 27 inch was just given a new life by Apple store though, they replaced the HD on their replacement policy free of charge, and via my Applecare, replaced logic board, dvd drive, and headphone jack, as well as cleaned, vacuumed, and polished it for me. Four years old, and no charge for anything. This is how Apple keeps us coming back! Having ample stock is critical to their continued success though.
Over the years, the rate at which I upgrade my Macs has certainly slowed. I used upgrade about every 2 years but, now, I’m still on a 2008 Mac Pro and, while it has had a few slight upgrades, it still does everything I need it to. I just think that computers have reached a point where they are so powerful, typical users don’t need to upgrade as often as they did in the past.
Old Tech, I agree with nearly every thing you’ve outlined. I would further add that a decline in Mac sales is a result of Apple catching a case of “Microsoft-itis,” i.e., creating an operating system which requires the computer user to buy a new computer to run it. Ask the PC industry how this strategy has worked. And with Mac computers sporting hefty price-tags, spending a couple to few grand every couple of years gets old in a hurry, especially for folks who work and have other expenses. More importantly, Apple has been producing computers for which there is limited technology. Take Thunderbolt, or more appropriate “Thunderbaloney.” Aside from an external monitor and a couple of external hard drives, how many devices are supported with this technology? On a simpler note, take USB 3.0. Aside from a few external hard drives and flash drives, what other devices exist? Has anyone seen a USB 3.0 printer, scanner, camera, or CD-DVD burner? Apple still only makes its “super-drive,” a pathetically outdated external CD-DVD device with a wimpy connecting wire, snail’s pace response time, and no icon to even indicate that it’s connected! What’s happened to Apple’s commitment to software? iWork is long in the tooth, with Apple turning a deaf ear to users who have asked over the last four years when a refresh -if any, will occur. It’s difficult to get excited about new Macs when software developers have produced few new programs and have only updated existing programs. When is the last time anyone has seen a good clip art program for the Mac sporting 100,000 or more clip art images? With a refresh of the OS every year, software developers are getting as weary as Mac users of the constant changes. Check the App Store. Where are the decent software programs? Mostly crap! As Apple moves toward become the new AT&T – Apple Telephone and Table, it seems to be placing any real development of the Mac and accompanying software on the back burner, throwing an occasional “eye candy” machine to its computer users every now and then. It’s sad that Apple seems to have become an iPhone and iPad obsessed company. But as these devices continue to be refreshed at a ridiculous rate to keep up with the Jones, they too will lose their relevance.