“At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins here on Monday, Apple executives will try to sustain that magic, using what has become one of their highest-profile events of the year,” Stone reports.
“Apple must also meet sky-high and perhaps unrealistic expectations from enthusiasts and analysts, and it is just as likely to draw attention for what it does not unveil as for what it does. That challenge is partly one of its own making. Apple’s strategy — particularly with the iPhone — has come to depend on a steady stream of hit devices that are viewed by consumers as being so far ahead of the competition that they are worth paying extra money,” Stone reports.
“But the competition is now catching up. Palm, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, are all at varying stages of developing and introducing their own iPhone-like devices and software, along with easily accessible stores for the small programs known as applications, or apps, that run on those devices,” Stone reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Key word: “iPhone-like.”
Stone continues, “For now at least, Apple appears to have a comfortable lead in the simmering smartphone battle. In the last two years, it has sold more than 37 million iPhones and the similar-looking iPod Touches, and the devices have become its most profitable product category. Apple’s stock has nearly doubled in the last six months, largely on the iPhone’s inexorable momentum, although it is still down 28 percent from its high in December 2007.”
“The iPhone has also attracted an enthusiastic community of independent software makers that have created about 40,000 free or low-cost applications for the devices,” Stone reports. “Apple now celebrates that wide range of programs, from flight simulators to spreadsheets, as one of the major differences between the iPhone and competing systems.”
Stone reports, “Apple’s goal for next week: to keep the energy, momentum and spotlight focused on the iPhone and away from its rivals… ‘Apple’s objective will be to clearly and strongly show why the iPhone platform is the best for developers, and that means there’s a high probability Apple will announce one or more phones at the conference,’ said Michael Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.”
Stone reports, The “strategy [of] introducing expensive but elegant products with high switching costs — is showing signs of strain in other parts of Apple’s business. Although Apple has performed better lately than other American computer makers, its sales of Mac laptops and desktops declined by 3 percent in the first three months of the year. That was the first time in six years that sales in Apple’s personal computer business had a year-over-year decline.”
MacDailyNews Take: Brad, there’s a “recesssion” on, in case you haven’t noticed. You said it yourself: Apple has performed better lately than other American computer makers. 3% off during that quarter was a triumph.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “iSteve” for the heads up.]
