“Technology stocks recorded mild gains in early trading Tuesday as advances from bellwethers such as Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Intel Corp. gave the sector a lift in an attempt to turn around from the previous session’s big losses,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch.
“The gains were moderated as Microsoft shares slipped in early trading after the software giant said it expects the second half of its fiscal year to remain difficult,” Crum reports.
“Apple , which holds its annual shareholders’ meeting at the company’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters on Wednesday, saw its shares rise $1.95, or 2.2%, to $88.90. The company’s stock was unfazed by a rating downgrade by analyst Shebly Seyrafi of Calyon Securities,” Crum reports. “Seyrafi cut his rating on Apple to underperform, or sell, from outperform, or the equivalent of buy, saying that the company’s premium pricing model for PCs is vulnerable in the current economic environment. Seyrafi highlighted that the average selling price of Apple’s notebook PCs is $1,398, or more than twice that of H-P’s $663.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another analyst out of a no-name firm who just doesn’t get it. In order to properly analyze the persoanl computer market, you have to first understand that Apple is unique. The fact is: Mac users aren’t going anywhere. When money is tight, we may wait a bit longer, but, really, truly, honest-to-Jobs, we’re just not going switch to Windows. Period. Conversely, some measure of Windows sufferers will continue make the switch as they wander into Apple Stores for iPod cases or learn about their friends’, co-workers’, and family members’ new Macs. Because Mac is superior, switching platforms is mainly a one-way street; Windows to Mac, not vice versa. Once you really use a Mac, you just never want to deal with Windows again. People to whom sticker price is most important simply are not in Apple’s target market for Macs; to put it bluntly, they’re more trouble than they’re worth. When and if they finally learn the value equation, then they can become Mac users.
Crum continues, “Microsoft Corp. shares fell 17 cents to $17.02 after company officials reiterated their earnings outlook for the rest of the year and said they expect the economy to remain weak for several months. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said the company would continue to look for opportunities to invest in key product segments through the year.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always: May Steve Ballmer remain Microsoft’s CEO for as long as it takes!
