“What is it about Apple that makes customers so passionate? Perhaps they sense Apple’s similar devotion to them. ‘We’re all consumers [at Apple] and we know what consumers like,’ CEO Steve Jobs explained in an interview after his keynote. In other words, Jobs explained, Apple’s engineers and programmers love technology and build products that they themselves want to use,” Peter Lewis writes for Fortune. “It’s an approach that garners the company not just customers, but lots of influence.”
“The media, for instance, always flocks to any Steve Jobs appearance, on the mere hint that a new Apple (Research) product will be announced. If Dell or HP or Sony sent out cryptic invitations to an event in San Jose, as Apple did last fall, would dozens of the tech industry’s top journalists drop everything to be there? Probably not,” Lewis writes. “So much fuss — yet Apple’s share of the computer market is less than 5 percent. Walk into a major corporation anywhere in the world and you’ll have a hard time finding an Apple Macintosh computer, except maybe in the graphics department. Sony introduces as many new products in a week as Apple does in a year, but Apple’s market capitalization (the value of all the shares sold to investors) is bigger than Sony’s, clear evidence that investors, as well as customers, are enamored of the Cupertino company that was founded on April Fool’s Day 30 years ago.”
“We won’t know for sure until we’ve had a chance to test them, but once again Apple appears to be setting the standards for the rest of the PC and consumer electronics industries… At the Macworld keynote Jobs did unveil what may in fact be the world’s best desktop and laptop computers, and, to go with them, the world’s best personal creativity and productivity software.”
Full article here.
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Sony releases that many products in a week to keep up with Apple.
Just you wait, less than 5% will become 10%, then , then 50%, then 100%! (ok, maybe not 100, but we all have dreams)
5.7 billion in one quarter is tiny???? That’s some powerful crack.
Apple’s marketshare will *maybe* climb to 6% this year. If they want more than that, they are gonna have to bring thier prices down to more comptetitive levels. It’s a lot to ask of someone to switch. Spend more money than they’re used to, and buy all new software ($$$!!!!). That is why MS isn’t, and shouldn’t, be worried.
Read the last sentence there, and sure..
But they still don’t understand why Mac users are so crazy about these machines. They are the best in the world, and they are solid as a rock.
Read this article earlier and rated it a 5/5. He captures the essence of Apple’s genius and confusion of competitors: the title says it all.
Good read.
5%, some drongos out there, do a quick sum, and conclude, “oh that must mean Windows XP is 95% (or the very least windows variations (or are they refering the badge on the box. I wonder what the actual breakdown of what operating systems are on what?
Well if a 70 BILLION dollar market cap is tiny than I suppose we should call Dell tiny too.
Other companies that should be considered tiny using this criteria:
Viacom
Oracle
3M
HP
Disney
DuPont
I think that’s enough
gspank,
You moron. Do a comparison of a Dell laptop with similar specs. The Dell is more. You really are lame.
no need for personal attacks… but I agree Macs are the best machine for money…. love my 999.00 iBook with a professional grade OS (Tiger). MS/Dell can’t touch this.
Was in A CompUSA in Charlotte this evening buying some wireless networking gear. Two different clerks told me they steer customers to Macs and hope to buy their own first Macs soon. Neither one was over twenty five years old, no duh. What surprised me was their enthusiasm when discussing the Mac’s virtues. No viruses! Better OS! Vista’s gonna stink! All points they made. All I mentioned was the big stock spike.
Compared to just a year ago, attitudes toward Apple are very different in the consumer space. Any writer who doesn’t see this is in a cave.
“no need for personal attacks…”
New here?
G Spank
“It’s a lot to ask of someone to switch. Spend more money than they’re used to, and buy all new software ($$$!!!!)”
If someone wants to use Vista, they’ll most likely have to buy a new machine to run it, and probably need to upgrade their existing software to use it. Then need to have new security software that runs on Vista to keep the damn thing clean of all the new malwares, viruses, etc. So how much of a difference is there compared to what you get back.
That is why MS isn’t, and shouldn’t, be worried.
Microsoft isn’t the one that needs be worried. Now if your name was Michael Dell, that’s another thing.
By this time next week, Apple’s market capitalization will be greater than Dells.
Maybe Mickey should sell off the parts of Dell, and give the money back to it’s investors.
This writer is confusing OS market share with hardware market share. No computer hardware manufacturer dominates the market (though Dell comes close to fitting that description at 30%+). Apple’s share of annual unit sales places it in the top 5 (http://www.twice.com/article/CA501758.html). Plus, Apple’s year-to-year unit sales growth regularly beats the industry average by a good margin. Not to mention Apple’s dominance of the MP3 player market and the (legal) music download market. So, Apple is not at all tiny by many standards other than OS marketshare.
well said
oh , and allan
if anyone’s a moron , it’s you
troll
G Spank wrote:
“Apple’s marketshare will *maybe* climb to 6% this year. If they want more than that, they are gonna have to bring thier prices down to more comptetitive levels. It’s a lot to ask of someone to switch. Spend more money than they’re used to, and buy all new software ($$$!!!!). That is why MS isn’t, and shouldn’t, be worried.”
It’s only January. There are still 11 moths left in the year. Anyone who has carefully watched Apple over the years sees the method in Apple’s madness; Start at the higher end (higher profit margins), and work your way down to the low end, kind of like Reaganomics, but it actually works in this context
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Apple has been very methodical in their strategy, and over and over again the strategy has proven to be right, unlike many armchair CEO’s here and other places on the Web.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lower end MacBook or MacBook Mini next quarter, plus a 17″ MacBook Pro in the next 6 months.
Artisculated,
that’s true.
I’ve noticed the same in Berlin. People are slowly waking up.
Sorry, I meant ‘Artisticulated’
as Lewis wrote…
“…once again Apple appears to be setting the standards for the rest of the PC and consumer electronics industries.”…
This CNN article somehow balances the Business Week article, which asserts the press drools over Apple and never asks the tough questions. The real news is that Apple always seem to set the mark in which all others try and achieve.
Is there a press-specific virus created and distributed by Apple, iDrool?
Lemme see, I priced two PCs with CoreDuos, and the Dell 9300 is $2592, though it has a 17″ screen, but none of the Apple software. The Acer 8200, lists for $2500, though slightly faster chip. So, Apple’s two offerings are right in the mix.
effwerd: “New here?” LOL – Thanks for the early morning chuckle!
the reason we’re passionate is because we realise apple is the best way and are simply aghast at the stupidity and gullibility of the general public in the face of common sense
if a car crashed as much as windows , you’d never sell it
“if a car crashed as much as windows”
– EMTs would probably call it “The Red Screen of Death”
Gates final words should be “I’m going to divide by zero now.”
… when the Win-Doze world needs him?
The Corvair of computing! Maybe Vista will elevate them to Edsel (or Yugo) status.
Since_IIci
When you guys keep doing Dell vs. Apple price comparisons, what you’re missing is that most Dell customers do not actually purchase the computers in the price range that you’re comparing. Most people are attracted to the very low price tag that is being advertised by Dell. Granted, many end up spending more by upgrading hardware and such, but they still end up spending less than they would on an Apple machine. Yes, Macs are the best value, especially when comparing spec for spec, but face it, most people are looking at that.