Interesting graph. He also has a chart of iPod sales that demonstrates the seasonality. Comparing 2007 to 2006, Apple could be in for a real ride this holiday season, especially if they introduce a widescreen iPod (iPhone without the phone) in September.

i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

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Guest wrote:
i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

Probably the announcement of OS X coming out in March. When OS X came out, theoretically it was a better OS, but it was riddled with problems and had to receive 4 major updates in less than 3 months. Like most things Apple, it took a lot of revisions to get it right.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

Probably the announcement of OS X coming out in March. When OS X came out, theoretically it was a better OS, but it was riddled with problems and had to receive 4 major updates in less than 3 months. Like most things Apple, it took a lot of revisions to get it right.

Umm, yeah, right JimB12.

Really easy to snipe when you post anonymously, isn't it?

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

Probably the announcement of OS X coming out in March. When OS X came out, theoretically it was a better OS, but it was riddled with problems and had to receive 4 major updates in less than 3 months. Like most things Apple, it took a lot of revisions to get it right.

Interesting, especially since OS X did not "come out" for sale until March, 2001, AFTER that decline. It's also interesting that Mac sales went up that quarter and the next two quarters. Kind of shoots your argument right in the groin, doesn't it?

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gslusher wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

Probably the announcement of OS X coming out in March. When OS X came out, theoretically it was a better OS, but it was riddled with problems and had to receive 4 major updates in less than 3 months. Like most things Apple, it took a lot of revisions to get it right.

Interesting, especially since OS X did not "come out" for sale until March, 2001, AFTER that decline. It's also interesting that Mac sales went up that quarter and the next two quarters. Kind of shoots your argument right in the groin, doesn't it?

No, the only thing you shot in the groin was your public image as someone with reading comprehension. Try rereading the first sentence, you completely misunderstood or simply didn't bother to digest it. I'll give you a hint, you missed the third word.
People who needed a computer in the first half of 2000 and wanted to buy Apple, would buy it, they would not delay for a year for the newly announced Mac OS X. People who were preparing to purchase a new computer in the 4th quarter and wanted Apple knew that OS X was nearing release, and would be willing to delay their purchase for what they perceived to be a newer and better operating system. The up ticks you see in the first 3 quarters of 2001 are the people who are known as "early adopters". Just like the people who have already bought iPhones. OS X was at this time missing some pretty basic features such as the ability to play DVDs or burn CDs. So in addition to the four major updates in less than three month, 6 months later they released another point release for OS X code named Puma. This addressed some of the problems like adding the ability to play DVDs and burn CDs, but there were still stability and hardware issues. The 4th quarter is usually the best quarter for sales for Macs (as you can see from that graph, the majority of years have that as their best with back to school the second best time of their for them). However, in 2001, guess what else was released? XP, in October of that year, and it appears that too had an impact on the poor sales of the Mac in addition the generally regarded instability of the new Mac OS X. OS X at this time, still was not considered to be a primetime OS, as evidenced by the fact that it was still not the default OS that shipped with Macs. The releases of Jaguar and Panther both greatly improved system performance and brought OS to a production ready level of quality. Along with these releases you can see the familiar annual sales trends reestablish themselves.

So there is a lot more detail for you, but I don’t expect that you’ll read all of it and actually comprehend it. This was more for the original poster who asked the question of what was going on and why it took so long for Mac sales to get back on track.

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Anonymous wrote:

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gslusher wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Guest wrote:
i think what really needs to be considered are the circumstances that caused the major setback in the 4th quarter of 2000. look how long it took to recover!

they say we can learn from the past. i'd like to know what was going on with macs at that time. thanks.

Probably the announcement of OS X coming out in March. When OS X came out, theoretically it was a better OS, but it was riddled with problems and had to receive 4 major updates in less than 3 months. Like most things Apple, it took a lot of revisions to get it right.

Interesting, especially since OS X did not "come out" for sale until March, 2001, AFTER that decline. It's also interesting that Mac sales went up that quarter and the next two quarters. Kind of shoots your argument right in the groin, doesn't it?

No, the only thing you shot in the groin was your public image as someone with reading comprehension. Try rereading the first sentence, you completely misunderstood or simply didn't bother to digest it. I'll give you a hint, you missed the third word.
People who needed a computer in the first half of 2000 and wanted to buy Apple, would buy it, they would not delay for a year for the newly announced Mac OS X. People who were preparing to purchase a new computer in the 4th quarter and wanted Apple knew that OS X was nearing release, and would be willing to delay their purchase for what they perceived to be a newer and better operating system. The up ticks you see in the first 3 quarters of 2001 are the people who are known as "early adopters". Just like the people who have already bought iPhones. OS X was at this time missing some pretty basic features such as the ability to play DVDs or burn CDs. So in addition to the four major updates in less than three month, 6 months later they released another point release for OS X code named Puma. This addressed some of the problems like adding the ability to play DVDs and burn CDs, but there were still stability and hardware issues. The 4th quarter is usually the best quarter for sales for Macs (as you can see from that graph, the majority of years have that as their best with back to school the second best time of their for them). However, in 2001, guess what else was released? XP, in October of that year, and it appears that too had an impact on the poor sales of the Mac in addition the generally regarded instability of the new Mac OS X. OS X at this time, still was not considered to be a primetime OS, as evidenced by the fact that it was still not the default OS that shipped with Macs. The releases of Jaguar and Panther both greatly improved system performance and brought OS to a production ready level of quality. Along with these releases you can see the familiar annual sales trends reestablish themselves.

So there is a lot more detail for you, but I don’t expect that you’ll read all of it and actually comprehend it. This was more for the original poster who asked the question of what was going on and why it took so long for Mac sales to get back on track.

Points taken and thanks for the explanation, but what did OS X 10.0 being riddled with problems have to do with the drop the quarter before OS X 10.0 was released? I think that is what confused me, along with the last sentence of your original post. I couldn't see what those would have to do with the 4th quarter 2000 drop. As you say, the problems with OS X could have been responsible for the slower recovery after that.

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"Points taken and thanks for the explanation, but what did OS X 10.0 being riddled with problems have to do with the drop the quarter before OS X 10.0 was released? I think that is what confused me, along with the last sentence of your original post. I couldn't see what those would have to do with the 4th quarter 2000 drop. As you say, the problems with OS X could have been responsible for the slower recovery after that."

OS 9 was considered outdated. OS X was announced but it was not yet released. So, Mac sales suffered.

imho at least, BB

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Guest wrote:

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"Points taken and thanks for the explanation, but what did OS X 10.0 being riddled with problems have to do with the drop the quarter before OS X 10.0 was released? I think that is what confused me, along with the last sentence of your original post. I couldn't see what those would have to do with the 4th quarter 2000 drop. As you say, the problems with OS X could have been responsible for the slower recovery after that."

OS 9 was considered outdated. OS X was announced but it was not yet released. So, Mac sales suffered.

imho at least, BB

Right, the problems with OS X 10.0 don’t have anything to do with the drop in sales in Q4 2000. “The announcement of OS X coming out” does. “People who were preparing to purchase a new computer in the 4th quarter and wanted Apple knew that OS X was nearing release, and would be willing to delay their purchase for what they [at that time] perceived to be a newer and better operating system.” The problems with OS X 10.0 & 10.1 have to do with the lack of purchasing in 2001 & 2002.

The original poster had two points, the big drop, and the length of time it took to recover. The initial decrease was to be expected, the prolonged drop had to do with the fact that it took so long for Apple to get it right with OS X.