“Apple will likely proclaim the past week’s Macworld expo a success… but deep questions linger as to the future of its computer business,” Red Herring reports. “Reaction from the Mac faithful to the first of Apple’s Intel-powered machines couldn’t have been more positive the day CEO and founder Steve Jobs unveiled them, despite worries that Apple was giving up its unique identity by switching from IBM’s PowerPC chips.”
“But it’s unclear if the initial love shown Apple’s new laptop, called MacBook Pro, and upgraded desktop, will be enough to translate into increased revenue and market share for the Cupertino, California-based company’s computer business,” Red Herring reports. “Apple’s market share is tiny—just 4.2 percent of the personal computing market, according to Gartner. Its bread and butter the past couple of years has been the iPod, but with the portable player’s somewhat low-key presence at the conference, even Apple seems to realize that it must shift emphasis back to computers to survive. It won’t be easy, experts said. ‘Macintosh is not doing very well,’ said Caris & Company analyst Mark Stahlman. ‘Sales of Macs in December were a disappointing 1.2 million. … Expectations were well north of 1.5 million—1.7 million would have been good.’”
“The machines introduced at Macworld may not have what it takes to lift Apple’s doldrums. Though Mr. Jobs touted them as between two and five times faster than current Macs, using Intel’s low-power Core Duo chip, Mr. Stahlman said those speeds aren’t actual measures of performance,” Red Herring reports.
Full article here.
Is it really so hard to realize that the closer to the Intel transition Apple got, the more people waited for the new machines? And it was 1.25 million Macs sold to be correct (according to Apple’s 8-K filed on Jan. 10, 2006); those extra 50,000 machines made last quarter the best for Macintosh ever: last quarter, ended September 05: Apple shipped 1.236 million Macs; the quarter ended June 05: 1.182 million Macs; the quarter ended March 05: 1.07 million Macs; the quarter ended December 04: 1.046 million Macs; and the quarter ended September 04: 836,000 Macs. That’s a pretty clear growth trend and accomplished in the face of a looming major processor transition, no less. Expectations for higher Mac sales were just not realistic. As the Intel transition progresses, any lingering “deep questions” about Apple’s Mac business will evaporate because Apple has started to take orders for and ship the kinds of Macs for which many were waiting.
For more about Caris & Company analyst Mark Stahlman, and an insight into his inability to predict how Apple is doing with their business, please see the related article link below. It contains some of Stahlman’s advice that would have been rather costly to investors if they had actually followed it. Clearly, Mark Stahlman is the one who’s not doing very well.
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Related MacDailyNews article:
Caris & Co analyst downgrades Apple, says ‘current enthusiasm might have overrun the realities’ – April 11, 2005
I agree with MDN’s take.
The first “Apple is going to die” article I’ve seen in a while. What are they smoking? Even without the iPod, Apple is making money, something very very, I’ll say it again, very few computer companies are doing these days.
Apple needs to start ADVERTISING the Mac!
Apple needs to tell the rest of the world about the Mac, OSX, security, iPod/iTunes/iTMS, iLife, .Mac, etc., etc.
I imagine they’ll wait for the Intel transition to be complete, before they launch a full-blown campaign though. Maybe by then they’ll be touting the ability to run Windows natively.
Sometimes it is just incredible to read these myopic musings over the murky future and possible death of Mac and Apple! Who did expect sales of 1.5 million Macintoshes? Anyone who did that can’t have paid much attention to what is going on with the switch to Intel etc. 1.25 is very good numbers in the light of that fact.
These people are looking and looking and simply not believing what they see. There must be something wrong with this picture. Apple is not supposed to do so well. Let us see; aha! They only sold 1.2 million Macs! That is clearly not good, because… uh, because… ah yes, they should really have been selling more. I think. Shouldn’t they? Oh yes, they should. Yes, they are going to die, that’s for sure.
Red Herring obviously does not understand the SPECSfp_2000 benchmark suite used and relied on by ALL manufacturers of Intel, AMD, and other chip manufacturers in reporting performance.
Steve’s presentation and the info on Apples web site is clearly about performance not some marketing finger in the air hype.
As to Market share – lets see now
At last count more than 500 companies were building Branded computers. Thats an everage market share of 0.2% so that makes Apples 4-5% 20 to 25 times higher than the average. Not to be sneezed at.
So I guess its just another red herring …. and you know what is said about red herrings … just another falsehood to divert from truth.
In a way, Apple picked a horrible time to make the transition, although it looks like their was no real choice in the matter. It gave microsoft another year to play catch up with Vista. Hopefully Apple can continue it’s Mac growth this year, and break the 5% barrier relatively soon. Lets face it, if Vista is a significant release by Misrosoft, and can manage to actually provide decent protection, the OS war will be over, and Microsoft will have won, and everyone will say Apple blew a huge opportunity, and they will be right.
For the life of me I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t price thier machines a little more competetively to gain some marketshare. Maybe they will announce a Mac Mini w/intel soon and it will be competitive. Please let this be true.
All together now: market share doesn’t make you profitable. Profits make you profitable.
There is no OS war … Apple will always be a niche because the average consumer is too stupid to appreciate and understand a quality computing experience and platform …
If you want apple to engage in the race to the bottom… and you won’t support better made products that cost a bit more … good bye and enjoy your pc hunk of crap …
MDN has it right yet again and AAPL Dude echos my sentiments exactly.
The TV ad for the new iMacs is a start, but it’s pretty weak. Apple’s TV ads are pretty much artsy-fartsy.
Some have said that it’s very difficult to tell about a computer in a 30 second spot, but everything needn’t be said in that 30 seconds. A series of short ads in heavy rotation will sell computers.
Dell does it, Gateway does it, HP does it too.
I cannot understand why Apple spends a lot of money on R&D just to shoot themselves in the head and not spend the advertising dollars to promote their products like Dell, Gateway or HP.
I have a CD of TV ads by Apple from the late 80’s and the early 90’s and some of them are pretty good.
I’ll be very happy when on this issue Apple really does Think Different.
If it’s $5.7 billion for the quarter, it’s either more than 1.25 million Macintoshes or SPJ was low-balling when he said it was 14M iPods.
Once again, 14M iPods generate around $2.8 billion in revenue and Apple will probably move around $1-1.25 billion in miscellaneous items like software, iTMS sales and displays. That leaves some $1.7 billion unaccounted for which points to around 1.4 million CPU units.
The only way that math doesn’t hold together is if Apple actually shifted closer to 15M iPods, and SPJ was simply rounding down.
If it’s really 1.25 million Macs for Q1/FY2006 – which appears to be the case if you go to 1:01.50 in the webcast and then verify them against the quarterly results – then Apple should only have generated around $1.625 billion in CPU revenues, add in 1.25 billion for miscellaneous (the only imponderable variable) and you’re left with figures that suggest that Apple actually sold 14.1 to 14.5 million iPods.
Good points all around. One more thing, though– Apple is not a one trick pony. It’s still on an upswing and hasn’t shown all is has in store. These writers need something to write about and since the unknown often means “potential doom,” that’s what they write about. Whatever.
Move on, nothing to see here…
It is what it is; just another shot at Apple bashing. Other than manufacturing a negative news story about Apple, I wonder what vested interest the writer has in the PC world that makes it necessary to spew this verbal dysentery.
Well, by not advertising, Apple may be thinking different — but in a different way than y’all want. The point of advertising is to put your product out there for the world to take notice, and ultimately buy. Apple’s retail stores accomplish the same purpose, but instead of using the ephemeral airwaves Apple’s investing in bricks-n-mortar stores that not only put their products in front of people in a way they can test and play with them, but also cash registers to take ther money. I’m sick to death of you people who seem to be genuinely convinced that Apple’s never considered advertising. I believe Apple is pretty smart and is allocating its resources very effectively.
Red Herring has always gone out of its way to paint a doomed picture for Apple. Apple is no longer just about Macs. Viiv powered media centers, possible mobile products, and a true video iPod are things we already know are lurking behind the curtain. Plus, if I can have a computer with an OS I really want which can also run an OS with some apps for my business needs….Hmmm. Slam dunk!!
Who owns Red Herring anyway? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation??
“doldrums” ?!!?@??
Must have put on his glasses made by microsoft to write this article…
MW – “Party” – …and he didn’t get invited to the party.
Yep, this is the Mark Stahlman who downgraded Apple shares in April 2005.
http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5443/
In the 10 months since then they have DOUBLED in value!
” Expectations were well north of 1.5 million—1.7 million would have been good.’” Ridiculous! Those figures represent between 45% and 62% year on year sales increase. The whole PC market is expected to increase by onllly 10-12% in 2006
they say Apple is 4.1 % of total market, what are the percentages of the other companies, in the light of Apples recent eclipse of DELL?
guys, as weve all read over the years, when it comes to Apple & the mac market, those so-called pundits, experts, analysts… are nothing more than idiots in suit_n_tie trying to sound smart only to show their true stupidity, either they’re really that stupid or for some reason just always want to bring something negative even when things are positive.
Red Herring….what an appropriate title!
But Apple made a profit and increased Mac sales
That’s all that’s important.
Profitable market share is what matters, not just market share.
Apple will most likely never have more market share than Windows PC’s, as long it keeps selling more and more.
iPod was just a bonus, who knows what else Apple has up it’s sleeve?
Whats with the silly Winfixer ad? Aside from being the worst sort of “free” tool, that is in fact a malware funnel, it doesn’t actually install OS X, which is the real “Winfixer”
I’m just going to throw a couple of thoughts out there and see who runs with it.
First, while its always felt like a MacOS vs. Windows battle, traditionally, MacOS has always existed to support Apple’s Hardware; Apple’s “bread and butter.” With the switch to Intel, the playing field has changed, and Apple has the ability to change it even more drastically. I mean (as much as I hate to say it) the possibility of a Worldwide Empire of Windows on Mac exists. Its not a pretty sight, granted, but I’m thinking of all those IT teams that have plagued my life by devoting themselves to Windows and sneering at me derisively for choosing Mac. I could see a lot of these guys buying a Mac with the intention of using Windows.
Second, if you focus on the fact that Apple has always been a “hardware first” company, its easy to say that the OS exists to support the box and it would be asinine to release MacOS for PC, since OS sales would never amount to enough profit to offset the losses on their machines. But over the last several years, Apple has released some of the most powerful software available for film and photography. Not to mention a strong showing in Music and Art. If, all of a sudden, these applications were made available to the millions (dare I say billions?) of Window’s users by purchasing a copy of MacOS X for Intel, couldn’t Apple make a small killing on software alone?
I’d like to say I have a great idea of where Steve is going, but everytime I think he’s going to zig, he zags instead. I’ve just learned that everything is possible.
This just out:
“Red Herring falling behind. The company once known for it’s savvy evaluations of the computer market have fallen behind the times. They’re now three years behind all other pundits in their predictions of Apple’s future.”
“Yeah,” said Rob Enderle, former behind-the-times anti-Mac pundit, “they seem to have fallen into some kind of time warp.” They’re just beginning to evaluate the 867 MHz PowerPC chips. Boy, just wait, it won’t be long until the G5 surpises them. They sense it’s coming on the horizon. You can bet, they’ll be singing its praises for at least a year.”
“Back then,” Endrele continues, “we were all saying unless Apple gets better chips their future is murky. And yet, these guys are right on track. So you can’t really fault their analysis of the situation. You just have to pity them how embarrasing this is going to be if they ever catch up to the rest of the crowd. They’ve hired me to update certain portions of their pieces, so they don’t sound so out of date. But I can’t change the substance of the story. That would be unethical. So they’re lost in the past. I’m hoping with their kicking their crack habit, and spending some tiem at Betty Ford, that they might actally be abe to catch up. Maybe they’ll be with us when Apple switches to AMD? Who knows?”
Who says Apple´s computer business is profitable??? Now with iPod sales being the engine of Apple, lots “profits” can be hidden in the accounting of things.
If what he says is correct that computer sales were short by about 300,000 to 500,000 in December that is quite a bit.
This Macworld was a ho-hum event with obviously big things not shown for whatever reasons.
The quarter that iPod sales don´t increase…watch out!
————–
Interesting side note – digital camera sales peaked last year (probably because of cameras in phones) and camcorder sales dropped by 5% last year.
——————
And from personal experience after a couple of years of sending and posting photos via email and on websites I have noticed that I have stopped sending as many out and friends and families are doing the same. I asked other people and they experienced the same thing. The “coolness” or “newness” of sending personal videos and photos has matured and not done as much.
Anybody else experience that also?
So do people really need the iLife suite of products that much anymore – is that a reason to buy a mac???
I’m almost secure there is an error: somebody has said Apple sold 1.25 million CPU’s in the last quarter, not knowing the last quarter ended in september. If I’m right, until the present Apple has not confirmed any result (sorry for my English)
Expectation abounds for new and innovative products from Apple, something long forgotten with Microsoft. This causes many people to wildly imagine what new software and hardware Apple will release and when. When Apple fails to deliver what their heart’s desire these emotionally labile individuals naturally feel disappointed, somewhat frustrated, and perhaps a bit depressed or angry.
Others, fueled by extremes of jealousy and bitter resentment with Apple, insinuate that any non-release of any product that does not exceed a previous version’s performance and speed by a factor of five is tacit evidence of Apple’s inability to perform to its mythical reputation.
The third group includes those who tend to remain objective, thoughtful, and determined. These people recognize that commitment, intelligence, cooperation, and collaboration yield positive results in time.
Microsoft has had the distinction of historical advantage of prevalence in the 20th century, but will lose as it continues to rely on prior history as justification for current commercial relevance. Microsoft’s hasty and impetuous forays into the new world of integrated home computing and entertainment have left its OS development to languish without adequate support and leadership. It is doubtful that Microsoft can diversify itself without causing irreparable harm to its OS division and, ultimately, the other divisions.
Apple is better positioned, better managed, has better staff, and better understands what is meant by personal computing. Apple will continue to define personal computing in the 21st century by improving what is does well, developing new technologies, and integrating the best and most useful technologies under development.
NSA intercept – you spent at least a half hour or more writing that editorial, right?
This was the Macworld show. Not the iPod show. That’s why they weren’t showcasing the iPod. They have to cover all of their great products. They just don’t need to do it in one venue dedicated to the Mac. This guy has a hidden agenda.
Just a short note about Apple’s advertising.
I think Apple has been pretty smart with the way that they advertise the Mac. Over the last couple of years, I’ve seen brilliant two-page spreads in Scientific American, and full page ads in entertainment magazines. This is smart, because a magazine ad can actually say all the things mentioned above (no virii, no crashing, software abilities, etc) that cannot be easily said in 30 seconds on TV.
TV ads are not the be-all, end-all. In fact, most studies show that an average consumer must see a TV ad 14 times in short succession before the brand name become “automatic” in the minds of the consumer. Apple does not need this, as Apple is already a top-five worldwide brand.
Besides, I just saw an Apple/Intel ad on Yahoo! Comics page. That’s smarter advertising, sends the user directly to apple.com/hardware.
I’ve lived and breathed in the ad world for 22 years now. Word-of-mouth advertising is always better than TV, and Apple has a tonne of W-o-M advertising, and even better, all those millions of people with white earbuds. Apple does not need to put TV ads in heavy rotation.
As has been said, sales is not the only answer. Profit is what’s important, and personally, I’d rather Apple spend a few more million on R&D and innovation rather than a 30-second throwaway ad on American Network TV (or even worse, the Stupour Bowl).
Just my 2 cents
>I imagine they’ll wait for the Intel transition to be complete, before they launch a full-blown campaign though. Maybe by then they’ll be touting the ability to run Windows natively.>
Apple is a dead loss at advertising. Period.
NSA INtercept is right on about that. and he even spelled the word ‘lose’ correctly unlike most people who write in forums. And a good typist could have written that in about 3 minutes.
Still well thought and right on.
dumb dumb dumb 🙁
quote:
Its bread and butter the past couple of years has been the iPod, but with the portable player’s somewhat low-key presence at the conference
—
what?
how many ipods did apple sell in fiscal 2004?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod scrolll way down:
apple sold 4.4 mln in entire 2004 (less than 1 mln in 2003) , and some 14 mln in holiday quarter 2005 alone – I wouldn´t call that “bread and butter” of the past couple of years.
BTW, if the progess of ipod sales continues like this, expect some 50 -60 million iPods to be sold in 2006 (25 mln in holiday quarter 2006) !!!
“For the life of me I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t price thier machines a little more competetively to gain some marketshare.”
I for the life of me can’t understand why people keep perpetuating this myth. I always think it has more to do with person agendas than real market reality. People who say this just want their next Mac to be cheaper so they keep whinging about it.
Look at the price of a similarly equipped PC vs Mac and you will see there is more parity than you realize. Apple jsut refuses to sell a stripped down box and advertise it on tv like Dull does. Yes, thats right, a stripped down box. When you compare similarly equipped Macs and PC’s they are very similar in pricec.
Apple has been pricing their systems “a little more competitively” for years but apparently some people arent going to be satisfied until they are giving them away for free.
Another article (opinion?) written by yet another anal-ist.
I wonder how good he would be doing running Apple. Probably turn it into another Microcrap company.
‘Said Mr. Kay, “It’s interesting that Apple can set itself, one company, against the rest of the industry.”’
Apple just won’t follow the industry. It has ‘set itself’ as a leader, and if Apple sneezes, the industry says ‘God Bless You’.
I totally expected Mac sales to plummet in the six months before Intel machines were introduced, as everyone waited to get the new machine. (And I think everyone knew Apple would release Intel machines at MacWorld, even from the first announcement of the switch).
But all around me, everyone was buying up Macs. People I knew were buying first-time Macs and others were upgrading to Quad Macs, etc.
I love how these analysts are always like “Apple is doomed…” Thirty years and Apple is doing better than ever or at least better than they have in 15 years or so. And think of all the computer companies that used to be huge that have gone out of business in the past 30 years: Packard Bell, NEC, Compaq, Wang, Commodore, Sinclair, IBM (out of the personal computer biz), Gateway (practically) and many others that I don’t even remember the names of. Although Dell loves to rap on Apple and said it should be shut down. I predict Dell will go the way of all these other dinosaurs within 5 years.
http://musobs.blogspot.com
“they say Apple is 4.1 % of total market, what are the percentages of the other companies, in the light of Apples recent eclipse of DELL?”
Veronica, lets not get our statistics confused here. Apple surpassed Dell in Market Cap only, not total sales or number of PC’s sold. Market Cap is a representation of the stock value of a company. It reflects many factors that the market weighs when determining a price of the stock, and the biggest factors here for both Apple and Dell are the fact that people expect Apple to keep innovating, growing and increasing sales while people expect Dell to continue to perform the way they have or very slow increases.
So while it is a great day to thumb our noses at Michael Dell for his past comments, Apple still has a long way to go to surpass Dell in sales and market share.
Let’s see… 14 million iPods sold vs. 1.25 million Macs for the quarter. APPLE IS THE iPod COMPANY!
Apple needs to PROMOTE the iMac as the ultimate iPod accessory. It was obviously designed to compliment it aesthetically.
The iPod ads don’t talk about how bad the other players are do they? They have nothing but positive energy behind them.
Poeple hate “political” smear campaigns during elections. The Intel ad had a negative statement to the Wintel user, turning off potential switchers.
Please Apple, no more negative ads, keep it positive.
Go Apple!!
LET ME INSIST. I’m almost certain there is a big error: somebody said Apple sold 1.25 million CPU’s in the last quarter, not knowing the last quarter ended in september. If I’m right, until the present Apple has not confirmed any result (sorry for my English)
What’s that smell? Oh, it’s that steaming pile of fokking crap left by Red Herring. Hard to take anything they say seriously, it probably is just a “red herring” to throw us off.
MW = figure
as in, that’s what I figure….
The goal of a business is profit. Apple has it.
magic word: large. QED
Yeah, pretty amazing that the company can exceed expectations on both iPods & macs by a big margin, then introduce significantly better machines, even if not quite 2X as fast in day to day use, at the same price point, and these pinheads are not optimistic. Really, what more do you want? 5X faster? whoops, thats the powerbook. . .
Sure, everything comes to an end someday. . . Like in 20 years, won’t Apple be a software peddler more than hardware, but things could not be much better at the moment. Why do I say that’s the direction? Well, Steve & Ives won’t be around forever, and the hardware is already manufactured by contract be some Chinese cheaplabormart that contracts for multiple hardware companies. . .
Didn’t any of you watch the Keynote presentation? Jobs showed Mac sales for the latest quarter (ending Dec 31, 2005) at 1.236m, up from the 1.25m of the September quarter.
MDN, you take is right on. I waited for and have ordered a 20″ Intel-based iMac. The fact Mac sales were strong in the middle of a processor shift is really quite amazing. A lull is to be expected. Bottom line, things are looking good all things considered, and we’re finally seeing Mac ads on TV. 2006 is going to be great and jam-packed with new, revolutionary products. Dual-core processors in every Mac will be a great selling point. By the time Vista arrives, Apple will have mad significant ground. BUCKLE UP!
>>They say Apple is 4.1 % of total market, what are the percentages of the other companies, in the light of Apples recent eclipse of DELL?
Apple’s “eclipse of Dell” was due to iPod sales, not computers.
The single, fundamental problem with all of this analysis of Apple and the computer/technology industry is that Apple is not a player in the common market.
Apple has set itself apart as a premium brand. Think Bose. Think Audi. Think Williams-Sonoma.
Apple is not battling the industry. But the industry insanely thinks it needs to battle Apple, when, in actuality, the industry simply needs to continue it’s path of commodity computing while Apple marches along delivering premium products to those who seek that level of personal technology.
And to Queezzie: Picture trading is actually in its infancy. Low-end picture trading satisfied an immediate and fleeting need (the new baby, the new dog, college dorm tit and dick shots), but as the tools get better and easier to use, more people will tell their stories with this kind of technology as already evidenced in big-player marketing and advertising agencies that use iLife, .Mac, and other such tools to deliver their brand of storytelling to partners and clients.
“Apple’s “eclipse of Dell” was due to iPod sales, not computers.”
I don’t care if Apple is selling elbow macaroni, profit and sales are just that. I love how all the Apple-bashers are putting such a negative spin on anything positive that comes out of Apple. It shows the desperation.
Funny thing is, all their competitors are selling music players too. Should we discount those sales from their numbers?
JUSTIFIED, you are right on bro.
Red Herring always negative about all things Apple!
I smell fear. I smell a worried ‘expert’ who has been proven badly wrong… I think he should have realised by now that he’s dug a hole for himself in April and should have stopped digging.
The bright news is that he is so ISOLATED in his view that there will be very few people who read this and consider it anything more than rubbish…
I think you critcs here, and MDN in particular, are being too narrow in your outlook on what’s being said in this article. It’s not a simple ‘Apple’s gonna fail’ piece. The reporter is elliciting opinions from two different people, and they’re saying two different things.
The guy from Caris & Company, Mark Stahlman, may be off the mark by claiming the recent lower unit sales of computers, right before a major product announcement, is a harbinger of any long term problem. But he’s right when he wonders if the x86’d iMac and Mac Book are themselves what people were expecting, and if they will sell as much as people hoped. The performace claims made by Jobs WERE more vauge than normal, even for him, and the heat and power usage issues of the MacBook, as well as the de-contenting of the whole platform, could easily turn off as many prospective buyers as are turned on by dual cores. Ironically, the iMacintel may be the more attractive product, if only b/c it has the least amount of tradeoffs, but it also clearly wasn’t the computer most had in mind when they thought about in the runup to this year’s Macworld (especially since it was so substantially revised recently).
That may all turn out to be inconsequential, but it is an awful lot of wierdness to be sowing when your trying to convince people to get on board.
The other guy, Endpoint Technologies founder Roger Kay has an even more interesting, if also more esoteric, point: “Mr. Kay said … he thinks that differently designed Macs could cause Apple to become a different company. “The one thing Apple brings to the table is design. They’ll continue to do their own innovations,” Mr. Kay said. “But I can see all that unique stuff becoming applications, not hardware. They’ll start looking more and more like Microsoft,” Apple’s archrival.”
I say, it’s about time the talking heads posited this. We keep saying here how ‘Apple is a hardware company’ (when we’re not saying ‘Apple is a software company’ that is). And in fact both are true. Apple’s success depends on both, sort of in a synergystic kind of way. But how can we realistically dismiss the impact using Intel Standardized Parts (patent pending) is going to have on what hardware Apple makes in the future? It WILL have an impact – it already is!
No FW800. Some sort of new PCMI slot standard Intel’s been pushing for 2 years, but that nobody saw fit to bother with, including Apple, until … now that Intel’s making logic boards for them. Both developments have Intel’s fingerprints all over them. Who knows what else we can’t see? If one considers that the laptop also doesn’t break new ground in looks, or case construction (this when carbon fiber is making itself known in other manufacturer’s lineups), and that even the name is boring … maybe Intel’s dull corporate ‘spirit’ is already taking hold of Apple’s formerly creative ‘body’.
I’m not sure. But I defintely think it’s a question worth considering, and this article is one of the few to bring it up at all. We should be applauding that, not dowsing the page with kool-aid in the hopes it will spontaneously combust from our over-focused fervor.
MW “north” … has nothing to do with anything, but it’s the first not to seem like my mind has been read in a while, so I thought I’d mention it.
You all might have retail stores acting as advertisements for apple in the US and the UK but we have nothing of the sort over here. I agree that they need to get their act together in relation to this. I know they are huge countries population-wise but they cannot hope to gain true global market share without tv ads worldwide. However, i do think that they are painting a bigger picture with the intel transition. At least I hope so because Dull must have a huge market share in Ireland, everything I see is a bloody dell and even over here in a such a small country we get heaploads of their stupid “you cant buy dell in the shops” ads.arrrrggghhhh. ah well, hope things start to change sooner rather than later.
Actual MDN word: Home, as in advertise in my home country.
Apple stock on the up and up – Sell! Sell! Sell! – If I hear one more idiot try to tell everyone to sell their AAPL holdings, I swear I’m going to personally go kick their conniving “try to drive stock price down, so they can pick up shares on the cheap” arses.
MDN —
Know what would be cool? Create a table listing analysts down one side and then their predictions vs. outcomes, and a score for each analyst.
I’d love to see how that turned out.
word to that tom! – then we would know who to trust and who is full of BS.
No, my incredulous and terse, little friend. (6 seconds).
To be fair, I have been thinking about personal computing for about 15 years, which may be more than twice your age and one-half your IQ.
It’s unclear if the initial love shown Apple’s new laptop, called MacBook Pro, and upgraded desktop, will be enough to translate into increased revenue and market share for Apple’s computer business to Red Herring because they need to put down the bong and go outside for some fresh air.
Apple’s marketshare is going to increase dramatically over the next two years and that’s a fact.
I gotta know, does anyone actually read Odyssey67’s long-winded tripe? It’s one thing to be an asshat, it’s another to spend 5+ paragraphs doing it. This is a message board. “Message”, not “essay”. One wonders how he finds the time to do anything else.
Lard Robin:
You really shouldn’t have to be a impertinent and pretentious ass because your brain only has the capacity to comprehend small words in short sentenced within tiny paragraphs.
Lord Robin:
I think that only you should be allowed to post at MDN. Your brilliant analyses, insightful comments, succinct prose, and witty banter are legend.
Each day hundreds, if not thousands, wait, trembling with anticipation, for, you, Lord Robin, to bestow your words of profundity and fill their dull little lives with purpose and meaning.
Apple needs to start ADVERTISING the Mac!
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Guess you missed the whole ‘dull tasks’ joke..
Twit
@ Professor >
The 1.25 million figure is confirmed in the keynote at 1:01.50: quarters 1-3 all tie up with Q1-3 CY2005, so the 1.25 M in Q4 is actually Q4/CY2005 as opposed to FY2005.
That said, trends and equations tend to suggest that Apple have actually shifted more than 14M iPods – possibly as many as 14.5M, but more likely to be 14.1 – 14.25 million. Either that or they shifted a ridiculous amount of iTMS tracks and gift cards to get $5.7 billion.
@ Reality Check and others/fellow travellers >
For the four quarters preceding ending 25/09 or thereabouts, Apple realised $4.54 billion in revenue from iPod, yet realised $6.275 billion from CPU sales. Allowing for the fact that the holiday quarter is “gadget quarter”, that figure should now adjust to approximately $6.295 billion for CPUs and $6.130 billion for iPods.
So – in effect – Apple’s valuation is now based equally on the contributions of iPod and Macintosh to both revenue and profit, however there is an intangible sentiment that iPod is acting as mechanism for diffusing the Apple brand into a wider community, that further CE developments may accelerate that diffusion enhancing the much vaunted “halo effect” (Apple CPU unit shipments for CY2005 are some 35% above the figure for CY2004 – well above the average industry growth), and that Apple’s retail strategy is adding yet another layer of amplification to the “halo effect”.
It’s worth noting that Tuesday’s keynote contained NO SUBSTANTIVE PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS relating to the music division (iPod/iTunes/iTMS) and yet the value of the company climbed 12.3% between Tuesday AM and Friday PM (in Eastern Time).
Why was that?
This no-name analyst was the only one expecting 1.5 to 1.7M computers being sold. What a load of tripe.
I can’t remember a single product that I purchased solely because I saw a TV ad.
I doubt that TV ads have EVER influenced my purchase of anything.
Please quit squawking the same tired tune. I stopped by the local Apple store today. The place was packed. 3pm on a Saturday.
What is advertising going to accomplish again?
Hey mike,
That ‘dull task’ ad doesn’t tell anyone WHY they should by a Mac.
Dumbass
About MDN’s take: this was not the best Mac quarter ever; the best ever was 1Q2000 or Christmas 1999 when Apple sold 1.377m Macs (700K iMacs). So this was the best since then.
In any case, Apple gave guidance back in October for revenue that was much less than the 5.7 billion in revenue for the quarter. Does anyone remember the exact figure from the October conference call? Apple probably got the sales figure close to right on Macs but way underestimated iPod and music sales.
As I look at this quarter, I’m not sure that pent-up demand for the new iMacs or MacBooks, or the drive to 1 billion in iTMS music sales will provide enough of a revenue boost to offset a post-Christmas decline from the 14m iPods sold. Therefore, I expect another product release by mid-Feb. So for me, if Apple, which is very conservative, projects more than 2% q-o-q overall revenue growth in the conference call, then a product release is imminent.
Yes, now’s the time for a blanket TV campaign by Apple.
“The new iMac 17 & 20″ with intel inside, 2x faster than the last iMac” but don’t look at the Mac mini, it’s obsolete and will be replaced with a machine 2x as fast later this spring.
“The new MacBook Pro, 4 – 5x faster than a PowerBook” but only if you have $2,000 and want a 15″ screen. The 3 iBooks and other PowerBooks are obsolete and will be replaced this summer.
Yes, millions of dollars on TV ads to get people into Apple stores now, when only 30% of the product lines have been updated. And you think the new iMac iSight owners were disapointed when the iMac switched to Intel three months later?
Holiday season 2006 for Apple is going to be sick…with full Intel line-up in place, computers, especially laptops, will be flying off the shelf. I’m sure there will be new iPod goodness… they will be lined up out the door for that as well.
Switchers everywhere
Profits thru the roof
Stock thru the roof
Hey mike,
That ‘dull task’ ad doesn’t tell anyone WHY they should by a Mac.
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That’s not what advertising is for you clueless moron. People don’t buy $1500 Machines because of a cute ad.. the ad invites people to find out more..
Stop bitching about lack of advertising, because if Apple took advice from geeks like you they would have been out of business 15 years ago.
The stores are in place to grow Mac marketshare.. if you have to tattoo it on your forehead, i’ll help pay for it, so you’ll shut up with the same cheap advice that no one wants.
When has a product ever advertised its way into marketshare. (eg. Creative)Never.
Dork.
Dear Fracas Futile:
Rule No. 1: Any company not producing computer hardware or software with improved features and/or speed is chastised, ridiculed, and publicly disgraced.
Rule No 2: Improving one’s product enhances one’s bottom line and, ultimately, benefits the consumer.
Rule No. 3: Buying a personal computer and software is buying obsolescence, because of rules 1 and 2.
Dearest meatofmoose
Apple Rule #1: Sell simplicity and ease of use
Apple Rule #2: Sell customer satisfaction
Counter Your Rule No. 1: Don’t invite the masses to consider purchasing your product when you have to be an informed techie to make a buying decision. (Will it dual boot Windows? What’s an express card? What’s the battery life? What’s this PPC, Intel and Universal software thing all about?)
Counter Your Rule No. 2: Don’t invite the masses to consider purchasing your product when you’ll introduce new products 2 to 5x faster in the next few months. (Damn, I just bought this thing and they introduce a faster machine 3 weeks later?)
Counter Your Rule No. 3: Invite the masses (with lots of advertising) to consider purchasing your product when you have updated your consumer lines ensuring a simple buying decision and longterm (at least a year) customer satisfaction.
All I’m trying to say is if I was Apple, I’d wait until at least the Mac mini and iBook lines get refreshed before spending millions on TV ads to bring in the customers.
Analysis now is PREMATURE.. trying to measure the beast before its born is a waste of time. Apple will be revealing LOADS MORE PRODUCTS and ideas in the coming six months, so just be a little bit patient.
Advertising is a dead medium, thousands of businesses are spending billions & it isn’t working. Apple has better/smarter/cheaper ways of getting you to notice their products…
like say word of mouth….
believe me, it’s workin’ around here…
Dear fracas:
If you choose to be uninformed about the products that you purchase then you deserve exactly what you get.
If you choose to be impatient in making purchases, well, that is your problem.
Consider leasing if buying is too stressful for you.
You are not making a whole lotta sense otherwise.
Dearest meatofmoose
I…am…talking…about…massive…TV…promotion…to…bring…new…users…to…the…Mac…platform.
Makes…sense…to…wait…until…transition…is…well…underway…before…spending…millions…on…TV…advertisements.
Waiting…will…result…in…less…confusion…for…new…users.