Steve Ballmer: Safari a 'rounding error,' Mac losing market share

[AppleInsider]

Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer went on the offensive against Apple in a recent interview, stating that Windows has gained market share on OS X, and that the browser Safari is a "rounding error."

In the third part of an interview with TechCrunch, Ballmer said that he believes the higher price of Mac hardware has turned away some consumers. He said the lower price of Windows 7 is meant to meet the current economic climate.

"We’re gaining share. Apple is expensive," Ballmer said. "And in tough economic environment, people get it. Their model is, by definition, expensive. And we’ve actually held or maybe even gained just a tiny bit of share relative to the Mac in the last 12 months. And it’s not really Snow Leopard. It’s really Windows PCs versus Mac."

Since the debut of new MacBook Pros with cheaper prices this summer, Apple has seen its sales grow, while the rest of the PC industry has shrunk. In July, Apple was the fourth-largest computer maker in the U.S. Mac sales are expected to continue to expand in the just-concluded September quarter.

And at $29, Snow Leopard, Apple's new operating system, comes at a much cheaper price than Windows 7. Initial sales figures showed that OS has had sales twice as high as Leopard and four times better than Tiger.

However, earlier this year, Mac sales were relatively flat before new products were released. And the popularity of netbooks has been a growing market for PC makers. In his interview, Ballmer said that netbooks are "just the first battleground."

Another fight for Microsoft lies in the world of browsers, where Firefox has made significant inroads on Internet Explorer. Ballmer acknowledged the success that Firefox has had, but also took the opportunity to discredit the market share of Google Chrome and Apple's Safari.

"The most successful by far is Firefox," he said. "Chrome is a rounding error to date. Safari is a rounding error to date. But Firefox is not."

The Microsoft chief executive used similar language in July, when he told financial analysts that the rate of Mac adoption is statistically insignificant. He said quarter-to-quarter market share changes between Windows and OS X amount to a "rounding error."

Two years ago, Apple expanded its Safari browser to Windows. It is also the mobile browser on the iPhone and iPod touch. The latest desktop version, Safari 4, garnered 11 million downloads at launch.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Quadra 610]

The most successful by far is Firefox. Chrome is a rounding error to date. Safari is a rounding error to date. But Firefox is not. The fact that there’s a lot of competitors probably is to our advantage. Yeah, we’re right now about 74 percent overall with the browser market, roughly speaking. But we’re having to compete like heck with IE 8, with great new features. The other guys are getting more and more unanticipated competitive attack factors, the thing that Google announced yesterday where they replaced IE but they don’t tell you. I mean that’s how I would say it. For all intents and purposes of what they’re doing IE is not there. It’s their operating system. Instead of now masked as browser, it’s masked as a plug in basically to IE. So, you know, we’re going to have to compete like heck and you know, see where things go. The one thing that’s unclear is what’s the economic play for anybody else competing with us at the browser level. Is this all about kind of controlling the search box or is it about something else?


Here’s Windows and Windows is a very successful product. How do you attack Windows? Well, you attack with the high end, and hardware. That’s an attack. That’s – I won’t call it the Snow Leopard attack. I’ll call it the Mac attack of which Snow Leopard is a piece. You could attack from the side. That’s the Chrome – Firefox attack. You can attack from cheap, from below. You’re not from the side. You’re one on one, but that’s kind of a Linux, Android, presumably Chrome OS, who knows, attack vector. You can attack through phones that grow up. You know, mama don’t let your phones grow up to be PCs or something. I don’t know. But that’s another attack vector. So, you could say how do I feel about all these attack vectors? Strong, I feel very strong here.

I mean, we’re gaining share. Apple is expensive. And in tough economic environment, people get it. Their model is, by definition, expensive. And we’ve actually held or maybe even gained just a tiny bit of share relative to the Mac in the last 12 months. And it’s not really Snow Leopard. It’s really Windows PCs versus Mac.

You’re not from the side. You’re one on one, but that’s kind of a Linux, Android, presumably Chrome OS, who knows, attack vector. You can attack through phones that grow up. You know, mama don’t let your phones grow up to be PCs or something. I don’t know.


They need to not let this guy communicate with the outside world.

May he run Microsoft for many years to come.

[jiminmissouri]

I'm afraid I don't understand.

If Apple's market share is "statistically insignificant", why then did Microsoft finally decide to pump millions of dollars into an ad campaign targeting people who might consider buying Apple computers?

For that matter, why are reporters even bothering to raise the issue?

Hmmm.

[teckstud]

May Apple enable flash on iPhone's Safari so I can actually use it consistently.

[I. Pod MacNut]

Oh how I hope they maintain this attitude. Remember when Detroit automakers dismissed Toyota, Honda and Nissan?

[mosqueda]

Back in the 50's and 60's people thought the Japanese built little junk cars and brushed them away as insignificant. We all know how that turned out. Of course, thankfully, American carmakers are making a comeback, but it's been decades.

Ballmer appears to have the arrogance of Henry Ford II, past GM Chairmen and other American industrialists. Of course Microsoft isn't sitting still, but they need to be a little more humble and recognize the growth and appreciate the serious competition they are facing.

Imagine if just one government agency switches to OSX, just one. Or maybe one large company. Then the dominos begin to fall.

[mr O]

… this Ballmer guy is a first class stand up comedian!

[Quadra 610]

Apparently the prerequisite for a Stanford MBA is a permanent head injury.

[star-fish]

Originally Posted by mosqueda

Back in the 50's and 60's people thought the Japanese built little junk cars and brushed them away as insignificant. We all know how that turned out. Of course, thankfully, American carmakers are making a comeback, but it's been decades.

Ballmer appears to have the arrogance of Henry Ford II, past GM Chairmen and other American industrialists. Of course Microsoft isn't sitting still, but they need to be a little more humble and recognize the growth and appreciate the serious competition they are facing.

Imagine if just one government agency switches to OSX, just one. Or maybe one large company. Then the dominos begin to fall.

Quite a few large companies have. Including HSBC. Hasn't really made any difference.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Mac sales are down this year. Maybe one day Apple will pull out altogether and stick to phones and media players

[floccus]

If I were a MS shareholder, I'd be rather nervous about Ballmer seemingly not taking the threats that Google and Apple pose as far as the internet goes. Google and Apple (and other corporate giants) are pushing free open standards while MS keeps trying to lock everything to a proprietary system. Windows, and especially IE, usage will soon drop as more consumers use other means to access the net. Take the Dell Latitude Z which runs a Linux variant to provide instant on internet and mail. NYT reported that 70% of the time people only used that instead of fully booting into Windows.

[myapplelove]

wtf is a rounding error (not literally of course)? Someone tell this guy that some of us are off the coke and can't "get" his train wreck of thoughts. He has some gall to talk about chrome and safari, seeing as these two as well as opera and firefox are pretty much superior to the miserable failure, the idiotic ie, in every possible test be it javascript, rendering engines, security, compliance anything.

[BenRoethig]

Wow he actually makes some of the more rabid Mac fanboys look level headed. He couldn't be further in denial if he tried.

[pauldfullerton]

Ballmer proves again what an idiot he really is. Maybe someone should tell him that if a customer buys a Mac (with MacOSX) plus a Windows license he/she gets both a Mac and a Windows machine all for the price of one computer. Now that's much better value for money than buying one Windows PC with just a Windows operating system, (along with all its associated anti-malware software). And as far as netbooks are concerned - Ballmer should just wait until Apple releases its new tablet computer. That will surely make Ballmer and Microsoft look stupid once again.

[Quadra 610]

The Steve Ballmer Delusion Tour:


Ballmer: Apple won’t dominate the smartphone market - September 25, 2009
Microsoft CEO Ballmer gets $25,000 raise as company profit plummets 17% - September 19, 2009
Ballmer grabs Apple iPhone from Microsoft employee and ‘stomps’ it into ground - September 11, 2009
Steve Ballmer calls Apple’s Mac market share growth a ‘rounding error’ - July 31, 2009
In a roomful of Macs, Ballmer promises ‘really amazing’ non-Apple PC hardware coming this Christmas - July 30, 2009
Ballmer attempts to laugh off Google’s Chrome OS challenge - July 14, 2009
Ballmer: Bad economy is good news for us; who’ll pay $500 for an Apple logo now? - March 20, 2009
Who’s afraid of Apple? Not Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - March 06, 2009
Microsoft CEO Ballmer dismisses Apple’s iPhone as hype, says Windows Mobile has market momentum - February 28, 2009
Update: Office 14 slips to 2010, Microsoft copies Apple some more, Ballmer still nuts - February 24, 2009
House Democratic Caucus resort retreat to host Microsoft CEO Ballmer to talk ‘innovation’ - February 04, 2009
Ballmer ordered to testify in ‘Vista Capable’ class-action lawsuit - November 22, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer implicated in ‘Vista Capable’ debacle - November 14, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer dismisses Google Android as financially unsound - November 06, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer says Windows 7 is Vista, just ‘a lot better’ - October 17, 2008
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer doesn’t know that Macs can run Windows - October 06, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer advises Apple to separate iPhone hardware and software - October 02, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: Apple’s iPhone and Mac will lose - September 26, 2008
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s retirement date: Never - September 22, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer on why Apple is thriving - July 24, 2008
Ballmer idea drought: Microsoft shareholders concerned - July 24, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: I’m outta here in 9 or 10 years; as soon as my last kid goes away to college - June 05, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer grilled at Four Seasons resort; Windows 7 yet another attempt to copycat Apple - June 03, 2008
Gates, Ballmer preview Windows 7: Multi-Touch and a Dock; Steve Jobs must be so proud - May 28, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer continues to overstate Zune market share - October 08, 2007
Ballmer: ‘Vista doesn’t get done by three people in a garage in three days’ - July 27, 2007
Ballmer: R&D is how Microsoft stays ‘ahead’ - May 24, 2007
Ballmer: ‘I run every morning’ - May 24, 2007
Microsoft’s Ballmer: ‘No chance Apple iPhone is going to get any significant market share’ - April 30, 2007
Ballmer: Apple not a hot brand, our partners will make look-alike iPhones, I gotta go - March 27, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer talks infected feet, profuse sweating, and Windows Vista - February 21, 2007
Ballmer says pirates to blame for poor Vista sales - February 19, 2007
Ballmer calls Apple ‘cute, little tiny niche guy’ - February 15, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone - January 17, 2007
Ballmer: Zune’s Wi-Fi will help Microsoft challenge Apple’s iPod+iTunes - November 14, 2006
Ballmer: I’m Microsoft’s ‘primary champion of innovation’ - July 27, 2006
Microsoft CEO Ballmer spends two days unsuccessfully trying to clean Windows PC malware - June 05, 2006
Couldn’t you just buy a Mac and run Windows? Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘No, we prefer real PCs’ - April 29, 2006
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admits to brainwashing his kids not to use Apple iPods - March 28, 2006
Microsoft CEO Ballmer promises ‘amazing wave of innovation’ in 2006 - March 23, 2006
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X - September 18, 2005
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: ‘We love to be first’ - January 25, 2005
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘Apple iPod users are music thieves’ - October 04, 2004
Microsoft CEO Ballmer on the digital home: ‘There is no way that you can get there with Apple’ - October 03, 2004

[parky]

Originally Posted by jiminmissouri

I'm afraid I don't understand.

If Apple's market share is "statistically insignificant", why then did Microsoft finally decide to pump millions of dollars into an ad campaign targeting people who might consider buying Apple computers?

For that matter, why are reporters even bothering to raise the issue?

Hmmm.

I was just going to say the same thing.

MS seems to be spending a lot and talking a lot about something 'insignificant'.

Bit of a contradiction really, seem to me that Balmer has not got a grip on reality.

[ulfoaf]

Sometimes I think Ballmer's IQ is a rounding error ... Why does he constantly rant about it if it is so insignificant? Remember the recent iPhone seizure incident.

Gates must be pulling the strings. This idiot could not be running the company.

[Quadra 610]

"You’re not from the side. You’re one on one, but that’s kind of a Linux, Android, presumably Chrome OS, who knows, attack vector. You can attack through phones that grow up. You know, mama don’t let your phones grow up to be PCs or something. I don’t know."

[2 cents]

Send in the clown. Oh, never mind. He is already here.

[walshbj]

Ballmer is as qualified to run Microsoft as Harriet Miers was to be on the Supreme Court.

Ballmer has become synonymous with buffoon.



Does he consider Zune a rounding error?

Bing?


Plenty of people would call Vista a rounding error too, especially compared to expectations.

[drk_one]

Do you ever become weary from your constant jealousy, Steve?

[dcolley]

I never have owned a PC that was not a piece of garbage and I have never owned a windows product that was not also a piece of garbage. Garbage is still garbage no matter how cheap it is.

[naman34]

Originally Posted by star-fish

Quite a few large companies have. Including HSBC. Hasn't really made any difference.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Mac sales are down this year. Maybe one day Apple will pull out altogether and stick to phones and media players

you're right about mac sales going down.
year over year, they were 8% down for 3rd quarter. But its much less of a fall than the rest of the industry and the only reason is the recession. Compared to the rest of the industry, mac sales are bloody strong.
Well, ya the numbers may be against apple in terms of market share. There were probably more pcs sold than macs. But hell most of those pcs were netbooks and hardly got the manufacturers any profits at all.
In business the only numbers that really matter are those of profits and cold hard cash.
and in the that department, apple is kicking ass. 91% of all compters of $1000 or above sold in the last year were macs. That says quite a bit.
So basically, 91% of the REAL computers sold in the last year were macs.
cmon a Real computer costs at least 1000 dollars. Or at least 800. Anything cheaper than that is basically a netbook, which is basically more of a peripheral device than a proper computer itself.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

The Steve Ballmer Delusion Tour:


Ballmer: Apple won’t dominate the smartphone market - September 25, 2009
Microsoft CEO Ballmer gets $25,000 raise as company profit plummets 17% - September 19, 2009
Ballmer grabs Apple iPhone from Microsoft employee and ‘stomps’ it into ground - September 11, 2009
Steve Ballmer calls Apple’s Mac market share growth a ‘rounding error’ - July 31, 2009
In a roomful of Macs, Ballmer promises ‘really amazing’ non-Apple PC hardware coming this Christmas - July 30, 2009
Ballmer attempts to laugh off Google’s Chrome OS challenge - July 14, 2009
Ballmer: Bad economy is good news for us; who’ll pay $500 for an Apple logo now? - March 20, 2009
Who’s afraid of Apple? Not Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - March 06, 2009
Microsoft CEO Ballmer dismisses Apple’s iPhone as hype, says Windows Mobile has market momentum - February 28, 2009
Update: Office 14 slips to 2010, Microsoft copies Apple some more, Ballmer still nuts - February 24, 2009
House Democratic Caucus resort retreat to host Microsoft CEO Ballmer to talk ‘innovation’ - February 04, 2009
Ballmer ordered to testify in ‘Vista Capable’ class-action lawsuit - November 22, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer implicated in ‘Vista Capable’ debacle - November 14, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer dismisses Google Android as financially unsound - November 06, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer says Windows 7 is Vista, just ‘a lot better’ - October 17, 2008
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer doesn’t know that Macs can run Windows - October 06, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer advises Apple to separate iPhone hardware and software - October 02, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: Apple’s iPhone and Mac will lose - September 26, 2008
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s retirement date: Never - September 22, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer on why Apple is thriving - July 24, 2008
Ballmer idea drought: Microsoft shareholders concerned - July 24, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: I’m outta here in 9 or 10 years; as soon as my last kid goes away to college - June 05, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer grilled at Four Seasons resort; Windows 7 yet another attempt to copycat Apple - June 03, 2008
Gates, Ballmer preview Windows 7: Multi-Touch and a Dock; Steve Jobs must be so proud - May 28, 2008
Microsoft CEO Ballmer continues to overstate Zune market share - October 08, 2007
Ballmer: ‘Vista doesn’t get done by three people in a garage in three days’ - July 27, 2007
Ballmer: R&D is how Microsoft stays ‘ahead’ - May 24, 2007
Ballmer: ‘I run every morning’ - May 24, 2007
Microsoft’s Ballmer: ‘No chance Apple iPhone is going to get any significant market share’ - April 30, 2007
Ballmer: Apple not a hot brand, our partners will make look-alike iPhones, I gotta go - March 27, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer talks infected feet, profuse sweating, and Windows Vista - February 21, 2007
Ballmer says pirates to blame for poor Vista sales - February 19, 2007
Ballmer calls Apple ‘cute, little tiny niche guy’ - February 15, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone - January 17, 2007
Ballmer: Zune’s Wi-Fi will help Microsoft challenge Apple’s iPod+iTunes - November 14, 2006
Ballmer: I’m Microsoft’s ‘primary champion of innovation’ - July 27, 2006
Microsoft CEO Ballmer spends two days unsuccessfully trying to clean Windows PC malware - June 05, 2006
Couldn’t you just buy a Mac and run Windows? Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘No, we prefer real PCs’ - April 29, 2006
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admits to brainwashing his kids not to use Apple iPods - March 28, 2006
Microsoft CEO Ballmer promises ‘amazing wave of innovation’ in 2006 - March 23, 2006
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X - September 18, 2005
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: ‘We love to be first’ - January 25, 2005
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘Apple iPod users are music thieves’ - October 04, 2004
Microsoft CEO Ballmer on the digital home: ‘There is no way that you can get there with Apple’ - October 03, 2004

Obsess lately?

[ifiredmyboss.com]

You have to sell a lot of $299 netbooks to make up for one MacBook Pro or iMac. Also how many Windows Mobile phones do they have to get liscenced to make what 1 iPhone makes for Apple.

[monstrosity]

We are probably in the last year of Explorer dominance, enjoy it while you can Stevie, and you know it..

Oh and before anyone starts, I'm including mobiles/netbooks, and in particular the sum of webkit.

[ctwise]

When Ballmer is talking about market share being a rounding error, he's talking about browser market share, not OS market share. The latest reports show Safari is at 4% and Chrome is at 3%. Not exactly a rounding error but still a small percentage if you take them separately. If you lump all of the WebKit browsers together, you're still below 8%. What's more interesting and ignored in the interview, is that regardless of the current percentages, IE continues to lose ground. And once Chrome Frame is ready for general consumption I think it will gain significant share - more then the Chrome browser itself.

Having said that, Ballmer still made an incorrect statement. He says they're gaining OS market share against Apple. I haven't seen any market reports that concur with that.

Lastly, this quote surprised me - "The one thing that’s unclear is what’s the economic play for anybody else competing with us at the browser level. Is this all about kind of controlling the search box or is it about something else?". That's just plain ignorance. The entire point of Google competing at the browser level is to make the operating system irrelevant. But to do that, you need to increase the base functionality and performance of the browser. IE is a boat anchor in that effort, which explains Chrome and Chrome Frame.

[rbonner]

Really looking for an answer, why does having the most popular browser matter? They are free and you can't really embed any advertising, that is done by the content provider, so why is this important?

Maybe an indication of computer usage?

[davebarnes]

Internet Explorer 66.97%
Firefox 22.98%
Safari 4.07%
Chrome 2.84%
Opera 2.04%

Source: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/brow...e.aspx?qprid=0

And, more to cause Steve's head to explode: http://kottke.org/09/09/kottkeorg-vi...and-statistics

[tawilson]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

And it’s not really Snow Leopard. It’s really Windows PCs versus Mac."

What a tw@!

Isn't a Mac, by definition, a Windows PC (as all the Windows fans seem to like pointing out) :P

Further proof that Ballmer just doesn't get it.

[Takeo]

He reminds me of a yappy little insecure dog. Perhaps a Shitzu.

[jeffmac7101]

Ballmer's head is a rounding error.

[tawilson]

Originally Posted by ifiredmyboss.com

You have to sell a lot of $299 netbooks to make up for one MacBook Pro or iMac. Also how many Windows Mobile phones do they have to get liscenced to make what 1 iPhone makes for Apple.

Indeed, and the Windows Mobile market share is dwindling quite quickly. It's all good and well having massive consumer choice, but when nobody wants it, what difference does the choice really make?

The answer...none!

[Robodude]

Apple IS expensive. That's why Microsoft will be around for years to come. I'll enjoy my Mac, but there's Windows for those who can't afford it - which is at least making progress these days.

Google don't present an immediate threat (yet) but they simply cannot be ignored. The future is Google, and that scares me just a little. And to the guy who said 'real computers cost at least $1000. or at least $800', thanks for the laugh!

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Internet Explorer 66.97%
Firefox 22.98%
Safari 4.07%
Chrome 2.84%
Opera 2.04%

Source: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/brow...e.aspx?qprid=0

Thanks for that. 'In business, if you aren't growing, you're dying.' That's why MS is advertising against Apple and why Balmer scoffs at Apple. The truth is they're very concerned about Apples gains!

[darwiniandude]

"Nuthin but hot air from a buffoon!"

[stokessd]

1) There are lots of government agencies that use Macs. NASA has had a long history of mac usership. Nobody is only macs because macs don't have certain mission critical software. There is no hardcore CAD/CAM for the mac. There is no credible PCB layout for the MAC. the list goes on and on.

2) Windows is software, and so much of a computing experience is interactions with the hardware. Apple makes nice hardware that I want to use. I end up running both XP and snow leopard on it to get work done. Regardless of what people say, windows does work and can work very well. I spend 8 hours a day on it at work and am very productive.

3) I find it ironic that the mac hardware designs are done on Windows machines.

Sheldon

[mpantone]

Originally Posted by floccus

If I were a MS shareholder, I'd be rather nervous about Ballmer seemingly not taking the threats that Google and Apple pose as far as the internet goes. Google and Apple (and other corporate giants) are pushing free open standards while MS keeps trying to lock everything to a proprietary system. Windows, and especially IE, usage will soon drop as more consumers use other means to access the net. Take the Dell Latitude Z which runs a Linux variant to provide instant on internet and mail. NYT reported that 70% of the time people only used that instead of fully booting into Windows.

I am a MSFT shareholder (as well as AAPL, GOOG, YHOO and others) and frankly, MSFT stock performance is disappointing. Microsoft has never really understood the Internet.

MSFT has basically tracked the S&P 500 index over the past five years. AAPL? +1000% GOOG? +250%

As far as I'm concerned Ballmer is incompetent as CEO. He lacks vision. He was effective as Bill's hatchet man, but he simply can't run the show himself.

The Microsoft Board of Directors should replace Ballmer with someone who can run the company and increase shareholder value.

[fashionbug]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

The most successful by far is Firefox. Chrome is a rounding error to date. Safari is a rounding error to date. But Firefox is not. The fact that there’s a lot of competitors probably is to our advantage. Yeah, we’re right now about 74 percent overall with the browser market, roughly speaking. But we’re having to compete like heck with IE 8, with great new features. The other guys are getting more and more unanticipated competitive attack factors, the thing that Google announced yesterday where they replaced IE but they don’t tell you. I mean that’s how I would say it. For all intents and purposes of what they’re doing IE is not there. It’s their operating system. Instead of now masked as browser, it’s masked as a plug in basically to IE. So, you know, we’re going to have to compete like heck and you know, see where things go. The one thing that’s unclear is what’s the economic play for anybody else competing with us at the browser level. Is this all about kind of controlling the search box or is it about something else?


Here’s Windows and Windows is a very successful product. How do you attack Windows? Well, you attack with the high end, and hardware. That’s an attack. That’s – I won’t call it the Snow Leopard attack. I’ll call it the Mac attack of which Snow Leopard is a piece. You could attack from the side. That’s the Chrome – Firefox attack. You can attack from cheap, from below. You’re not from the side. You’re one on one, but that’s kind of a Linux, Android, presumably Chrome OS, who knows, attack vector. You can attack through phones that grow up. You know, mama don’t let your phones grow up to be PCs or something. I don’t know. But that’s another attack vector. So, you could say how do I feel about all these attack vectors? Strong, I feel very strong here.

I mean, we’re gaining share. Apple is expensive. And in tough economic environment, people get it. Their model is, by definition, expensive. And we’ve actually held or maybe even gained just a tiny bit of share relative to the Mac in the last 12 months. And it’s not really Snow Leopard. It’s really Windows PCs versus Mac.

You’re not from the side. You’re one on one, but that’s kind of a Linux, Android, presumably Chrome OS, who knows, attack vector. You can attack through phones that grow up. You know, mama don’t let your phones grow up to be PCs or something. I don’t know.


They need to not let this guy communicate with the outside world.

May he run Microsoft for many years to come.

ballmer speaks like an undereducated kid. I wonder why Microsoft shareholder allows someone like him stay at the helm of Microsoft.

[myapplelove]

Originally Posted by Robodude

Apple IS expensive. That's why Microsoft will be around for years to come. I'll enjoy my Mac, but there's Windows for those who can't afford it - which is at least making progress these days.

I got myself a few weeks back a pbook g4 12" and it runs everything mac seamlessly, its small, portable has firewire, a beautiful keyboard, 1.25 bg ram, and all these for a the super expensive price of $300. I don't see why a sony netbook at $900 or a crappy dell one at $400 with the shitty intel atom, miniscule keyboard, screen to get myopic reading is a better deal. I don't even see why an average crappy pc at $700 is a better deal than the $999 macbook which is much specked all around has right now a great screen and runs os x, which by definition means about 1000% more productive time for not catering to every awful windows quirk and bad design. Only the times spent by just typing in an item in settings and having appear to you instead of digging in various menus, sub menus, pop ups, sub pop ups to find what you are looking for. You can easily clone your hd and have it boot ready in case of any failure instead of the crappy back up apps that don't even make a decent clone. The list of conveniences is endless...

Well, to each his own.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by floccus

... Windows, and especially IE, usage will soon drop as more consumers use other means to access the net. Take the Dell Latitude Z which runs a Linux variant to provide instant on internet and mail. NYT reported that 70% of the time people only used that instead of fully booting into Windows.

This is very true and under appreciated in general I believe. I know of quite a few people for instance, including myself, that use things like Facebook and Twitter, yet have never owned or used a PC version of either. There are a lot of things, (and the trend will only continue), that people don't need a windows PC for at all. Or a desktop Mac for that matter.

Apple is right to jump to the next device platform now while it's being created. It won't be long before the fact that "Windows owns the corporate desktop" will have no bearing on anything anymore. Even if the balance of people using Windows over Mac doesn't substantially change, there will be more people on the new portable devices running OS-X than there are on both desktop platforms put together.