“Five years ago, Apple Computer Inc. was barely an afterthought in the halls of electronics companies,” May Wong reports for The Associated Press. “Not anymore. With its best-selling iPods and landmark licensing deals with music and television moguls propelling new ways of consuming digital media, Apple now is the pacesetter. ‘In the consumer electronics world, there’s always talk now about Apple, the way people used to talk about Sony,’ said analyst Richard Doherty of The Envisioneering Group. ‘At the water cooler or in boardrooms, they’re asking, ‘What is Apple doing next?’ or ‘How do we stay out of their way?'”
Wong reports, “If anything, the company’s momentum accelerated in 2005. It gave us the iPod shuffle, the Mac mini, the nano, the video-playing iPod, a new iMac with a remote control and TV shows for sale on its iTunes online store. Apple is characteristically mum on the products it has in store for 2006, but analysts and observers say there’s no question rain is on its way. The only debate is on how strong a downpour.”
Wong reports, “Different varieties of the iPod are reported in the works by sites run by Apple afficionados. Perhaps an iPhone, or an iPod-cell phone hybrid. There is considerable speculation that iPods will get wireless Internet connectivity. Analysts also expect a bigger display at some point for better video viewing. As Apple works to make its computers digital multimedia hubs, the book-sized Mac mini introduced in early 2005 is predicted to get features that will make it fit more comfortably in a living room. Add an iPod dock or a TV tuner, for instance, and it could serve as a home’s music hub and a TiVo-like digital video recorder. The slimmer iMac that Apple introduced in the fall — complete with a remote control and ‘Front Row’ software that lets users access their music, photos and video from across the room — suggests Apple is readying to step deeper into the media center arena. Many expect Apple to sign more deals with TV networks in 2006, expanding its video portfolio much as it did with music and thereby swelling its coffers.”
Wong reports, “Apple has also recently made market share inroads in the United States, according to IDC. After years of hovering between a 2.5 and 3.7 percent share of the U.S. PC market, the company finally cracked 4 percent in the first half of 2005, IDC analyst David Daoud said. Apple’s market share of PC shipments was 4.4 percent in the third quarter, an increase of 43 percent from the year ago period, while the overall PC market expanded by only 2 percent, he said. As many as 1 million of the 4.5 million computers Apple shipped in fiscal 2005 were from Windows users switching platforms — a sign of a ‘halo effect’ from iPod sales and Apple’s growing retail presence, said Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf.”
Full article here.
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I love apple
Oh Steve my love, let me bask in the warm grow of your DRF. I wait with baited breath, trembling lips, and beating heart. I shake involuntarily from the excitement of thinking of you.
Your special fairy princess.
I guess a Wong can be Wright………
MDN Magic Word: “Have” as “I have a lot of Apple stuff in my stocking and under the tree this year”
Amongst things I enjoy eating, Apples my favourite, oh and they also share the name of the best technical solution available
Here’s a terrific Christmas idea. Replace that aging, virus-ridden, spyware filled, Windows PC (piece o’ crap) with a bright and shiny new Apple Macintosh. Ho to the ho to the ho, ho, ho!
(P.S. Or ask Hannukah Harry to bring you a Mac mini instead of socks this year.)
DRF? Dont you mean RDF?
RTFM
Much of Wong’s article was taken directly from Morgan Stanley’s forecast report for clients issued yesterday. Expectations for Apple run high at Morgan Stanley.
1 out of 4.5 Mill were converts?
Does that mean Apple sold 3.5mill to the Mac Faithful?
Damn- that’s a lot of Macs going into the installed base.
Anna May Wong’s tits are made of aluminum.
(George Carlin fans will remember this one…)
^ Peter — I don’t. And I’m, ummm . . . curious. What does it mean?
Apple’s market share is actually higher than 4%…more like 8% if equivalent units are taken into account…
It’s sort of like Saab automobiles. The 900 series (before General Motors took over) lasts twenty years or so, and the company made such good long lasting cars that didn’t wear out, and consequently owners didn’t typically buy new ones for years and years. Same with Macs…my Sawtooth G4, new in 1998, is running just fine, albeit with an upgraded CPU, and I can’t justify buying a new Mac.
So if a Mac lasts, say ten years, and a PC five, the Mac owner is going to replace his computer half as often as a PC owner, which largely explains why the market share for Macs is 4% not 8%. Equivalent units is a cost accounting concept, too difficult for bulls to understand, don’t you know.
Part of the reason for the longevity is the operating system which, for Windows, is five years behind the Macs in the first place. It’s amazing so many people vote for Windows versus Apples. If you take length of ownership into account, Macs are half as expensive as Windows. Maybe they are even free, in comparative terms, as they don’t need to have money spent on such silly things as antivirus software. Unfortunately Apple can’t afford to give them away even if they are free in “equivalent” terms.
P.S. Hortense drives (used) Saabs. Last new one was in 1985.
Get real, Hortense. Use web browser stats to calculate market share – if a computer isn’t browsing the web it’s not being used, period (discounting servers, of course).
According to a Mac website Safari has 2.78% of the market. That’s a long ways from 8%.
http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/12/02/safari.popularity.growing/
Evil_MS_User
That doesn’t count Macs that are surfing using IE (I know people who still do), or Firefox, or are not surfing (like my mom – dials up very rarely but uses her mac quite a bit).
hater,
I’m dyslexic and horny.
Evil_MS_User
Your browser stat is equally or more meaningless. There is more than one browser for MacOS.
AND nobody really cares about stats except corporate parasites. I use a PC all day at work. Which is where I do most of my browsing. Then I go home to a Mac so I don’t have to use crappy software. Once I go home I have quality time. Web browsing is not quality time nor is it productive. Which is where Macs are used: being productive.
PCs are used for wasting your life.
Evil_MS_User,
There’s a lot of users both Mac and non Mac who use Firefox. Likewise there’s a lot of users who use more than one browser. I use Safari and Firefox. Your figures just don’t add up.
On a broader front I want Microsoft to linger on in perpetuity. It’s then so easy to compare the Apple user experience to the Windows nightmare. I’d be happy for Apple to have ten to twenty percent of the market.
Oh and a final note to MS user, I switched from Windows in 1993 and I never regretted that decision one bit. Why the hell are you such a masochist? I just can’t understand it, you get such great value with Macs!