On CNBC’s Squawk Box, Walt Mossberg, Re/code co-executive editor, discusses what’s behind the revival of Apple’s Mac computer sales.
It’s an amazing comeback.
The Mac is clearly growing faster than the iPad… and I think there’s a connection there. Apple never sold the iPad as a complete replacement — which, ironically, is what Microsoft is trying to do with tablets now — They always said it’s going to fill a gap between the tablet and the laptop, but they never said it was going to replace it. I think that people who buy iPads use them and they reduce their use of the laptop, but they realize that at some point, you just have to go to the laptop and because they’re already in an Apple situation, the Mac is the logical one to go to. — Walt Mossberg
MacDailyNews Take: In other words: Halo Effect.
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Direct link to video here.
The Mac never left!
That’s right. It never did! The common belief is that Apple lost the PC wars. How? I never saw a white flag. Apple lost some battles for sure, but they kept going and going. And for years now, Apple owns the lion’s share of PC profits, with market share following quickly (without even counting iPads). I think it’s fair to say that Apple is finally winning the decades-long war of the PC!
I am not sure about white flags, but they came close when they gave up on OS 9 running on beige Macs and clones.
But they have won PC wars 2.0 decisively in a long smart campaign. That most are unaware of the victory, that half of worldwide PC profits is going to Apple, makes the victory even sweeter.
About 15,000 people (25-54) were watching Squawk Box this week, so no many are likely to have seen it.
The church of Ayn Rand is pretty empty these days, Uncle Walt would have done better just about anywhere else excepting Fox Out of Business Channel.
Rating source:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/11/18/cable-news-ratings-for-monday-november-17-2014/329306/
Um, I’m not sure what ‘Fox Out of Business Channel’ means (CNBC?). But I did look at the chart and responded by feeling really sad that the most popular ‘news’ is the faux news, the propaganda enriched blah blah of News Corp crap. THIS is my country? Apparently so, among the cable news watchers.
Hey USA: You’re sick. Take your temperature. You don’t look well at all. I think you need a doctor. No, not a red or blue doctor.
Fox Out of Business Channel is Faux Bidness Channel- watched by like 5 people.
Pretty pathetic, Walt [his reasoning]. It is clear, either you buy a solid, beautiful Mac to spend your days with, or… pick any of the plastic, underwhelming, Windblown POS craptops out there! The newer macbook air ripoff so-called ultra laptops are not any better, and a hybrid laptop/tablet is well… a fscking joke!
I used my own money to buy an iMac to replace my windows pc lenovo POS at work. I ran windows on it (morbid). I supported it by myself. I bore the entire purchase (for a work computer) by myself. Why? Because the aesthetics of every day life of looking at a crappy, black plastic, stuck in the ’90s, windows pc was too much to bear. I would come into work and there stood a 27″ aluminum clad beauty that ran Windows better than any other non-mac platform. I got it on Craigslist, still under warranty, for several hundred dollars less than retail. This was in 2010, I still have it, it runs just fine. It was the best use of money for a computer that I ever spent.
Great tale.
Did your employer ever figure it out?
They approved it… but many others were jealous and envious… until they found out I paid for it, then they were like “you are nuts”, and I said, “nuts about Apple!”
If only he had put his money where his mouth is now ten years ago, he’d be very, very rich. He gets zero points from me for this demonstration of hindsight.
Fortunately though a good number of people had the the right balls to do just that and they’re all now in for a seriously comfortable retirement. Good on them.
I wish Walt had helped with Apple’s amazing comeback from the low of 1996-1998. But he was there beating the drum for Apple to drop dead along with the rest of the little clones in tech journalism. Thankfully, he did eventually catch on and has been fairly insightful ever since.
As for the ‘amazing comeback’ of the Mac: This hasn’t JUST happened. The Mac has been, ever so slowly, ever consistently, TROUNCING the Windows box for several years. If he’s talking about the ‘cannibalism’ of the Mac by the iPad: Did that EVER happen? Seriously!
The best Apple “BRAND advertisement” has always been seeing the proliferation of the lighted Apple logo, in great excess of its “market share numbers” over-populating the lap top screens visible in college classrooms and Starbuck lounges.
Bought iMac 5K last night. 1st Apple desktop i’ve bought since my 1985 512K Macintosh, which I used for 10 years. MacBook Pro 15 is now 5 years old and still going strong in spite of a few recent drops which dinged the aluminum.
Is that 512 Mac, still 512 or did you take up to the Mac Plus?
haha. Inside baseball, the 512 had all the signatures inside the plastic cover. When you upgraded to the Plus, only Steve’s signature remained inside the new plastic cover. This was after he got the boot.
Went to a coffee house this week on university campus. It was not a Starbucks (students are smarter than that). Macs were nearly 3 to 1 in use over PCs (as I said students are smarter).
He’s half right. It’s not just that a Mac is the “obvious” solution for someone who wants more power than the iPad offers, it is also the “aha” moment that happens when they discover the “it just works” philosophy of Apple plus the great design of Apple products which look great but also deliver a wonderful, intuitive, user interface.
Going back to Windows for a PC would be a very odd decision under these circumstances.
Plus all the cool people on TV, the hippest bands, use Macs prominently.mJimmy Fallon, etc. Me- I much preferred my old beige OS 9 PowerMac to any of that Wintel ’95 garbage. Windows was Never, ever, a better solution. It’s Always sucked!
I love “being in an Apple situation.” 😆
iPad sales are likely dropping because there are lots out there and they neither breakdown or become outdated very quickly.
– particularly as many like my family use them for web surfing and social rather than business reasons and rather than sit at a desk mounted PC/Mac.
iPads also don’t replace the primary computer in most homes. Many who have bought one have probably held off replacing their PC until they saw where M$ were going with Windows and office. The halo effect is now kicking in and there are no compelling reasons to stick with a PC. iMac’s therefore will come into more homes because the quality and the lack of bugs/malware/BSOD/Pishing issues and the various laptops are best in class for those who need a mobile solution – particularly if it works hand in hand with the iPhone.
Apple isn’t going down market and as they’rean aspirational brand it doesn’t need to.