Motley Fool's Tim Beyers Says Apple's Real Target is Dell

The Motley Foolis Tim Beyers surmises in his latest column that Apple is really going after Dell with its recent announcement that it will switch to Intel chips. He writes: "The Intel deal aims to lure those buying computers from Dell -- or Gateway, or Acer, or even iPod partner Hewlett-Packard -- into trying a Mac. Everything else is a distraction."

While heis at it, Mr. Beyers also takes aim at what he calls "three of the more popular myths" that have been propagated this week: the possibility of clone machines again, cheaper Macs and Apple also partnering with AMD. Of the first, he says: "Donit expect Mac clones, ever." He calls the first round of cloning "doomed" and thinks another effort would meet with the same results. "Jobs wants to sell millions of screaming-fast $2,000-$3,000 laptops and hundreds of millions of iPods," Mr. Beyers writes. "Licensing the Mac OS doesnit fit with that agenda."

Concerning the second myth, he notes that "Apple has spent years creating a premium experience. Itis a good bet that Jobs will do whatever he can to keep margins closer to what Dell enjoys."

Mr. Beyers does think, however, that Apple will eventually partner with AMD too, noting that the Mac makeris announcement "said nothing about exclusivity ... Itis worth noting that AMD appears to be at least 18 months ahead of Intel in one key area: dual-core chips for servers. Were Apple to upgrade the Xserve line, AMD would be a good source for processors. Itis a short path from there to AMD-powered PowerBooks."