“For the past few years, conventional wisdom has been that the one company the consumer electronics (CE) industry needed to fear most was Microsoft. Bill Gates and his team have been eying the CE market for 15 years, and if you study their overall CE strategy, you see that it is to have some type of Windows environment on any and every digital device a consumer will use in the future. They have made major deals with cable companies, telecom vendors and even cell phone hand set makers like Motorola and HTC and are becoming even more aggressive in trying to make Windows based operating systems and user interfaces a key element of CE based products throughout the entire CE eco-system,” Tim Bajarin, Principal Analyst for Creative Strategies, writes for Technology Pundits.
“Indeed, all of their ‘consumer’ based products are aimed at bringing more and more people into the overall ‘Windows World’ and use that as a starting point for Microsoft to sell new CE based products and services in the future,” Bajarin writes. “While I do believe the CE folks need to have a healthy fear of Microsoft in order for them to compete on a somewhat even ground, the company they actually need to fear most is Apple Computer.”
“There is a very distinct difference in the way Microsoft and Apple are approaching the CE market. Microsoft’s way is to create a radical new platform, such as they did with the Media Center, and push it out to the market in a bold fashion in order to get people focused on the concept and then let the early adopters help them validate the platform. In the meantime, they keep working on evolving the actual Media Center platform and in typical Microsoft fashion, eventually get it right by the time they have version 4.0 or 5.0 on the market. On the other hand, Apple’s approach is very subtle and in a sense, delivers new features that help move consumers towards the Mac and related products in a more controlled and measured way, but with better results,” Bajarin writes. “Unlike Microsoft who developed the Media Center platform and thrust it on the market as a new concept that needed to be evangelized in order to get it accepted, Apple uses a more controlled approach by adding new features somewhat sporadically and gently brings the market along with them and before you know it, Apple has become a CE powerhouse in their own right.”
“By using this more subtle approach and gently moving the market towards a Mac world where everything is easy to use and works together seamlessly, Apple could become one of the most important, if not the most powerful CE company someday. And while Microsoft should still be feared by the CE folks, Apple could be the one company that gives them the most problems in the future,” Bajarin writes.
Full article here.
Advertisement: The New iMac G5 – Built-in iSight camera and remote control with Front Row media experience. From $1299. Free shipping.
Related articles:
Apple’s shift to Intel really all about Hollywood, owning the living room, and Transitive – June 05, 2005
Apple and Microsoft battle for control of future living rooms – June 02, 2005
Now with integrated video support, will Apple’s iTunes soon become iLiving Room? – May 11, 2005
With Mac mini Apple CEO Jobs attacks the Achilles heel of Windows dominance: the living room – January 14, 2005
Apple Computer will own the living room, not Microsoft – January 10, 2005
NY Times: Can Steve Jobs put Apple in the center of your living room? – March 23, 2004
Super-lightweight article. ZZZzzz…
Yup, now that Front Row has been hacked to run on a Mac mini, I’m seriously considering buying a mini, hooking it up to my TV and using it as a dedicated media server (connected wirelessly to my PowerBook, of course).
Remote-controlling with Salling Clicker completes the picture.
This reminds me of the monopoly wars of the late 1800’s were you had Rockefeller building a horizontal monopoly in the oil industry and Carnegie creating a veritical monopoly in steel. Likewise MSFT has the horizontal monopoly and AAPL the vertical. Both are monopolies. But AAPL controls all aspects of their game. MSFT eventhough a virtual monopoly in the OS world, still must push to create a monopoly in the CE world. AAPL already has the monopoly and just does what it wants.
MacJack says: “Yup, now that Front Row has been hacked to run on a Mac mini, I’m seriously considering buying a mini, hooking it up to my TV and using it as a dedicated media server …”
Do it. Do it now. Cause after the Mac Mini is ‘x86’d’, with a nice little TPM chip nestled next to the processor, you’ll appreciate the comparative freedom the hacked PPC version will give you. You won’t be allowed to download HiDef video from iTMS, but as long as you’re ok with ripping your own stuff you should be much happier.
MDN magic word = dark
As in “Are dark days ahead?”
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(I think this thing really DOES read minds …)
Hey, I am doing a project for my marketing class on the nano…if you have a nano or have experience/opinions on it, please fill this survey out for our group:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224QTNQQSM5
<<Apple’s got a plan around delivering digital content anytime, anywhere in revolutionary new ways (i.e., PVRs recording TV shows is so last century), and is positioning itself to sell the consumer devices (home, portable, pocketable) to enjoy that content……….>>
Excellent analysis Mark.
we are going to rule. WE ARE GOING TO RULE PEOPLE !!
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
“Consumer electronics companies should fear Apple more than Microsoft”
Perhaps consumer electronics companies have more to fear than computer companies because Apple is reducing its focus on Macs. Hannibal from Ars Technica says as much:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051026-5486.html
Since MacDailyNews has regarded Hannibal so highly in the past, I thought I’d mention his new article.