Featured Article: Apple to Replace Defective MacBook Pro Video Chips
Fortune: Apple's Hottest Product is Computers
by , 2:00 PM EDT, August 22nd, 2007
Apple's computers are emerging as the hottest part of the company's product profile, according to Fortune Magazine on Wednesday. That comes as many had previously worried that when Apple dropped the word "computer" from its official name at Macworld 2007 that it signaled a reduction in Apple's commitment to computers.
In fact, the company name change seemed to offer somewhat of a concession. For over a decade, Apple couldn't seem to crack the 5 percent mark of computer sales in the U.S., or 3 percent world wide.
Recent data from IDC, however, has shown a remarkable turn around recently. In the quarter ending in June, Macs accounted for the majority of Apple's revenue, and their share of the U.S. computer sales is now above 5 percent thanks to sales growth triple the rest of the PC industry since last fall.
Supporting that, according to NPD data, Apple is now in third place overall amongst PC makers, behind only Dell and HP, with 5.9 percent market share. A year ago, it was 4.8 percent. Apple's notebook market share is much higher, 17.6 percent, compared to 15.4 percent a year ago.
Apple has done this by focusing on their strength: the personal personal computer, an emerging tool in the modern, mobile, entertainment driven technology market.
The effect of Apple's retail stores, their music business, and the iPhone seems to have propelled Apple's awareness and business amongst those with sole purchase authority, in contrast to corporate IT departments which buy computers for their employees and dictate use. That's always been true, but when Apple only sold niche computers, the public awareness of the company was not there to propel sales.
Other factors have come into play, especially the Intel transition which makes running Windows almost a no-brainer for Macintosh customers. Perhaps most important of all, is the energy within Mac OS X.
"Apple's software could turn the Mac into a phenomenon again, perhaps even in corporations. Apple is arguably the best software company on the planet, regularly releasing basic operating system software and application programs that reveal the greater potential of computers as devices for communication, creativity and entertainment. Most of Apple's software gets an overhaul every few years and is constantly freshened with free, easy, online upgrades that improve performance," concluded Brent Schlender.
The lesson: improve your hardware and software faster than the competition and focus on the consumer market where people are free to chose the best. That seems like a good idea, but it might never have paid off unless Apple had developed the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone.
Observer Comments
Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:37 pm Subject: Fortune: Apple's Hottest Product is Computers
"Apple's software could turn the Mac into a phenomenon again, perhaps even in corporations. Apple is arguably the best software company on the planet, regularly releasing basic operating system software and application programs that reveal the greater potential of computers as devices for communication, creativity and entertainment. Most of Apple's software gets an overhaul every few years and is constantly freshened with free, easy, online upgrades that improve performance," concluded Brent Schlender.
Sounds more like "inarguably" the best software company on the planet to me.
Cheers,
mhikl
Quotemhikl wrote:
Sounds more like "inarguably" the best software company on the planet to me.
Cheers,
mhikl
Not necessarily. Go look up "arguably" at Dictionary.com. Here's the second definition:
"2. susceptible to being supported by convincing or persuasive argument: Admirers agree that it is arguable he is the finest pianist of his generation."
From The American Heritage Dictionary:
"2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law."
From WordNet:
"as can be shown by argument; she is arguably the best"
Inarguable, on the other hand, can mean obvious and does not require argument or evidence.
Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:09 pm Subject: Re: Another nitpick: "no brainer"
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
I have always seen "no brainer" used to mean "obvious choice", rather than "minimal effort". I don't see installing some form of Windows as an "obvious choice" for many users.
It may be for some people who must use Windows. In a discussion on another site, a university professor said that he has to use Windows for the math software he needs. He just got a MacBook Pro, which allows him to have a Mac, but use Parallels to run the scientific software. Others need to run narrow-market business software (e.g., body shop estimating) that isn't available for OS X. Others want to play games that aren't on the Mac, yet.
Some years ago, I managed a forum on CompuServe, before the Internet became popular. (I started on CompuServe in late 1984 with an Apple //c and a 1200-baud modem.) In order to run the forum, I had to use a CompuServe product that only ran under Windows. I bought Virtual PC with Windows 95 just to do that task.
Heads-up for you. Journalists often use "arguably" as it is so deliciously inconclusive. On the one hand, it says "this is my point of view based on the evidence before us" while on the other it says "but I'm willing to accept that there may be something better of which I am as yet unaware".
Recent Headlines - Updated Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
- Wed., 1:50 PM
- How to Keep Leopard Purring
- 12:35 PM
- Microsoft Exec Says Mac Users Pay an "Apple Tax"
- 12:05 PM
- OWC Announces Memory Upgrade Kits for New MacBooks
- 9:40 AM
- Forum Poll: Are You Buying a New MacBook or MacBook Pro?
- 9:15 AM
- TextSoap 6 Improves Cleaner Editor
- 8:40 AM
- Analyst: $999 MacBook Big News
- 8:20 AM
- Typinator 3.2 Adds FileMaker Snippets
- 7:55 AM
- Apple Posts MacBook, Display Event Video
- 7:30 AM
- Flash Player 10 Sports 3D, GPU Acceleration Support
- 12:10 AM
- Adobe Ships Creative Suite 4 Apps
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
OWC: Top Quality Memory for Faster Mac Performance 1GB/2GB/4GB Kits from
$23.99/$47.99/$94.99 Expert Support, Free Installation Videos & Guides,
Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty - www.MacSales.com
New MacPro Memory 800Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $88 / 4GB $138 / 8GB $274 - Click to Maximize your Macs...
Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.
RamJet Memory: Mac Pro FB-DIMMs: 2Gig kit $95, 4Gig Kit $179, 8Gig Kit $355! MacBook 2Gig Kit $78, 4Gig Kit $149! Click hereFor the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

