M ost Wall Street analysts have been negative on Apple for the last several months, with some issuing negative comments and downgrades on Appleis stock. Some have even gone so far as to specifically state that the Mac is heading towards obsolescence. This is, of course, why we have put together the Apple Death Knell Counter, which is even now sadly in need of an update.
Enter Tom Yager of InfoWorld, a mainstream tech magazine that caters mainly to the Intel world. Mr. Yager has penned a piece that questions the negativity on Apple, and cites some specific areas where Apple is doing quite well. From the article:
I read a lot for my work. I inevitably run into material, such as the SCO Groupis lawsuit against IBM, that makes me bang on my desk. Not only is it bad karma, itis unforgivably bad "lawyering" -- the filing document contains so many factual errors that I could make a career out of refuting it item by item. I also ran into a story in a business publication I generally respect, warning Apple that it faces an uncertain future if it doesnit innovate soon.
For some analysts, I predict a bright future writing horoscopes and fortune cookie truisms. Is Apple really in danger because it hasnit made a major new product announcement in the past 30 days? If thatis true, the industry is on a tighter release schedule than I thought. There is no lack of innovation at Apple; most competitors fare poorly by comparison. Apple is sticking to its message (dare I say “vision"?) with such focus that it drives some paid observers crazy. A steady, consistent drive to push technology forward does not make headlines.
Mr. Yager specifically cites Appleis recently announced fan trade-in program among the things Apple is doing right, along with "X11, Safari, IDE storage, 802.11g, the 17-inch PowerBook, iLife, .Mac, and client-side Java." Following that with:
What do I think Appleis getting wrong? The exclusive deal with Sony Ericsson on syncable mobile phones, developer training, and documentation, and the lack of a strategy by Apple to get hardware vendors to create OS X device drivers come to mind. There is plenty more in both categories.
There is more in the full article, which we recommend as a good read.