On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he’d do if he was in charge of Apple Computer, Dell founder and then CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, “What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”
A little more than a month later, on November 10, 1997, new Apple iCEO Steve Jobs responded, speaking in front of an image of Michael Dell’s bulls-eye covered face, “We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights.”
On January 13, 2006, after a little more than eight years of hard work, Apple Computer, Inc. passed Dell, Inc. in market value, $72,132,428,843 vs. $71,970,702,760 at market close respectively. After trading places, Apple promptly fell behind Dell as shares of the Cupertino Mac maker were subject to a multi-week bear raid. Today, however, Apple’s share price continued its rise while Dell’s continued to slip. The result, once again, is that Apple Computer ($60,166,590,800) is now worth more than Dell ($60,061,881,440) in a race whose leadership is likely to oscillate a bit in the near term (before Apple pulls away for good).
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The Motley Fool: Apple ‘may be the next Dell’ – April 07, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Payback? Wall Street didn’t like Apple passing Dell in market value – February 09, 2006
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BusinessWeek: How can Apple be worth more than Dell? – January 20, 2006
Steve Jobs emails Apple team: Michael Dell not the best prognosticator, Apple worth more than Dell – January 16, 2006
Apple now worth more than Dell – January 13, 2006
Apple primed to pass Dell in market value – January 12, 2006
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Financial Times: Dell and Microsoft can never hope to attain Apple’s Mac aura – January 10, 2006
Struggling Dell has lost its mojo while Apple shows rapid growth – November 07, 2005
Apple growing faster with more innovative products, better support than ‘one-trick pony’ Dell – November 01, 2005
IDC: Apple shows rapid growth, holds 4.3% U.S. market share on 48% growth – October 17, 2005
Michael Dell say’s he’d be happy to sell Apple’s Mac OS X if Steve Jobs decides to license – June 16, 2005
Why buy a Dell when Apple ‘Macintel’ computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
Apple Macs are less expensive than Dell PCs – April 25, 2005
Dell CEO: Apple can’t just have one product and then say they’re the innovative leader of the world – February 22, 2005
BusinessWeek: Rather than dismissing Apple products as fads, Dell should try starting a few – January 31, 2005
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Michael Dell owes Apple an apology; Apple up 176 percent vs. Dell’s 13 percent in past 12 months – January 15, 2005
If Apple licensed OS X to Dell, Dell would still be selling cheap, ugly computers plastered with stickers and crammed with crippled, free software programs.
You would still have to buy the Mac OS’d Dells from a bait and switch. Byzantine web site that asks what you want to do with your $400 Dell then adds all sorts of crap hardware and junky third party software and charges you something north of $1400 for your $400 computer.
You would still have to pay extra for phone support that. when you finally got through to them, would blame Apple for all the problems with the cheap hardware components and tell you to phone your OS provider.
Been there, done that. Believe me, no one wants this nightmare, even if it does run Mac OS X.
the Other Mark:
Google has been dragging all the “techs” down, as all the airheads realize they’ve invested in an ephemeral search engine.
MDN Magic Word: “lack” as in “Dell lacks” the infamous villain species of Doctor Who.
It’s kinda sad, though, that Apple surpassed DELL only by its share prices falling less rapidly than DELL’s, though. 🙁
http://www.sissel.cc/blog/bloglet.html
This just in:
A Windows PC user was recently given a special sneak preview of Vista from Gates and Ballmer showing how it will be engaging, entertaining and really, really goshdarn fun to use! ! !
‘More revenue, yes. Higher profit margins, NO. Apple is the big winner in profit margins.
What’s the big deal in profit margins?
I’ll take 2% of Microsoft’s volume over 33% of Apple’s anyday.
Volume baby volume!! Dell can crush Apple’.
You know this contributor is a lot more visionary than he knows if not quite in the direction he thinks. This sort of comment is the essense of why ‘top dogs’ always tumble and get replaced by the new force having taken the World for granted. Meanwhile their followers keep the faith, take the ballshit that all is well long term until there simply IS no faith left to keep and they have 33% of very little and what they have no one wants. Dell, Microsoft their decline is pre determined by such human nature, its just the timing that isn’t yet clear. For the bright amongst us 3% of something growing fast is always better and it is from these that the true winners prevail while the others take their declining dues and fail to smell the coffee even when a sack of it is hovering over their heads.
I tell you what, if Stevo said he was coming after me and had me in his sights, I’d run for the hills screaming. Doughnut boy better pay attention as he gets collectively bitch-slapped by Apple over the next few years before he and Dell sink entirely.
NOTHING GOOD COMES FROM TEXAS…..(see Bush)
Why do people who keep having problems with the Dell junk always go back to them for a new computer.
In their defense, I met a guy once who was so fed up with spyware and viruses on his Dell, he vehemently proclaimed, “Next time I’m getting a Sony!”
Google has been dragging all the “techs” down, as all the airheads realize they’ve invested in an ephemeral search engine.
Isn’t it funny how jealous Microsoft has been of Google, to the extent that anything that Google is even rumored to be working on, MS has to announce that they’re working on the same thing, and pour billions into the foolish endeavor that has nothing to do with their core profitable business areas? They’re so distracted by their jealousy of Google that they don’t see the real threat, Apple, sneaking up behind them to slit their throats.
I think Microsoft thinks it’s going to do to Google what it did to Netscape, but that won’t happen. Microsoft has used up all of its goodwill in the industry. Whether it’s other tech companies or just average consumers, everyone wants MS to fail. This isn’t the ’90s, when Microsoft was actually thought of as “cool”. These days people will go out of their way to use Google versus MSN Search or Start.com or Windows Live or whatever they’re calling their “OMG we have to kill Google” endeavor today.
Apple, meanwhile, is poised to steal the home desktop market right out from underneath MS’s nose, a market which MS has been hostile to ever since the release of XP and its for-home-users-only “product activation”. It’s only gotten worse since 2001. MS seems simultaneously dissmissive of and agressive toward its home users, calling them thieves and doing everything they can to wring a couple extra hundred dollars out of each of them, whether it be forcing them to buy two copies of Windows for their two computers, constantly big-brother checking their computes to see if their Windows is “genuine”, doing nothing to fix the architecture problems that lead to spyware infections and then asking them to PAY for spyware protection…the list goes on and on. MS hates its home users, and Apple will be more than happy to take a good chunk of them off it’s hands.
Score!
FVK MR. DELL.
Market price as an indicator of the fundimentals of a company?
Now that seems a lot like skirting around looking for a benchmark in which Apple wins.
To support Apple’s current price, there’s a lot of year on year growth expected. When that slows, watch for Apple to drop.
All other things being held the same (for each company) Dell needs to grow revenue at a measly 4% to justify its valuation, and Apple needs to grow at 18%, every year for the next 10 years.
Impossible for Apple, No. Harder than for Dell? Yes.
GOODBYE DELL.
nice work on disassembling it!
I think we should pound their god-damned existence into the earth.