I n a look at Appleis fiscal Q4 financial results, TheStreet.comis K.C. Swanson focuses on the Mac platform, and Appleis lackluster Mac sales during the quarter, in relation to future company revenues. Looking back at Appleis market share peak in 1993 (#1 PC vendor with 13% market share), Ms. Swanson says that "regaining some of [the Macis lost market] share is key to ensuring Appleis revenue growth." From the article:
Instead, Apple is focused on broadly boosting growth in the top and bottom lines. As CFO Peter Oppenheimer explained on a conference call Wednesday, "Weire not focused on market share because weire really not participating in the low end of desktops at $800 and below. We donit think we can make a lot of money there."
In other words, for all the democratic appeal of the iPod, Apple still sees its computers as premium products. It would rather reach its revenue targets by selling fewer, more-expensive computers than by hawking lots of cheap boxes.
In a PC market increasingly ruled by price, it remains to be seen whether that philosophy will resonate with computer buyers.
The full article points out both negative and positive things about Appleis Mac business, including more quotes from more analysts about the importance of that market share.