“With the release of its latest Mac operating system, Tiger, Apple is upping the ante in its bid to win over Windows users – and to convert proud iPod owners into Mac desktop owners,” Seb Janacek writes for Silicon.com. “If OS X finally came of age with Panther (version 10.3), then Tiger feels like an embellished and polished upgrade to a finished product.”
Janacek writes, “In fact, Apple is so pleased with its new big cat, it seems, there are signs afoot that it may be about to resurrect its Switch campaign. The original campaign floundered despite a high-profile launch. The campaign used ‘real life’ testimonies from ordinary people who had switched from PC to Mac, though they seemed alternately too cool, geeky or stoned to be believed or trusted on matters of personal computing.”
“A note on the Apple website currently reads: ‘Got an iPod, then bought a Mac? Did you love your iPod so much that you decided to buy a Mac? How did your Mac change the rest of your life? … We want your personal story of your move to Mac – what you do with it and how it’s made your life all around better.’ The signs of a follow-up campaign are clear. However, this time the company will be able to take advantage of the much-vaunted iPod ‘halo effect’ that journalists and analysts love to harp on about,” Janacek writes.
“It’s a tangible effect now. According to its second quarter results, Apple shipped 1.07 million Macs – a 43 per cent increase on the same period a year ago. This rise was no doubt boosted by sales of well over five million iPods in the same three-month period – a 558 per cent increase on 2004,” Janacek writes. “Apple is clearly gearing up a campaign to beckon a few disillusioned Windows users into its open arms before Microsoft’s own next-generation operating system, Longhorn, comes to town next year.”
“There’s no realistic anticipation that Apple will regain huge tracts of market share. The OS wars are long over; Microsoft won,’ Janacek writes. “However, the company could convince a few people outside the Apple community to consider making the leap when it launches its follow-up ‘iPod to Mac’ Switch campaign. Maybe not the droves that Apple might like but certainly enough to consolidate the fortunes of the company. And thanks to the strength and momentum of iPod sales, the campaign will have the added oomph and reach it lacked last time. Let’s just hope its ‘real life’ testimonies come from advocates who appear a little more down-to-earth this time, or at least less stoned.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft may have won a very convincing battle, but we never say never. The war isn’t over until there’s a surrender. Apple’s still here and the Mac platform is growing and advancing, not shrinking and retreating. As long as Apple makes Macs, as Yogi said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” PCs are turned over every few years; all it would take is for the average user to choose a Mac for their next computer and things would quickly change drastically. With Windows in disarray and Longhorn looking more like Stillborn, right now is Apple’s best time to strike and strike hard. Will Jobs do it?
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