Apple snags 14 percent of US-based PC retail sales in February - Page 2

Where is the data to back this up. I have been curious about the Air sales numbers?

If you had purchased a PhD instead of an MBA you might have known how to spell "contributor."

(Just pulling your chain.....)

The ones who stole all the ideas for their OS from Windows.

Gosh, you do seem to have a surfeit of bad luck with Apple products! (I recall that you were really happy with the concept of the MBA, as I was. For the record, I should point out that the one that my wife bought looks/works absolutely great.)

What does Apple say? Did they replace these products?

Don't be so sure of that. The iTouch may not make up for lost sales of other iPod models, esp if iTouch sales have already been modeled in, as they no doubt are. iPods steal some sales but not that many, perhaps a hundred thousand a quarter. don't forget that the iTouch steals those sales back from the iPhone.

It will be seen as the end of the growth curve. This will been seen as affecting iTunes as well, and even, possibly, the end of the halo effect.

I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with that, but it will be thought.

not true. Investors are relying on what Jobs said about the legs. The Mac's and their software are one, the iPod and iTunes music is the other, the iPhone plus revenue from the phone companies is the third, and possibly, the ATv and movie rentals are the fourth.

If one or more of those self imposed legs falter, that will be seen as bad. Apple's move into other markets will be seen as failing, and as Apple is now a growth company, this will be bad as well.

Let's see. 72% of the U.S. population believe we are already in a recession and yet Apple was able to grow "over priced" Mac sales by 60% over the same month last year. Plus they might show a modest same quarter Y to Y gain in iPod sales. Boy, I can hardly wait until the other 28% believe we're in a recession!

The Euro zone is now bigger than the US market. The EU market is bigger still. Yet, Apple is not nearly as successful there. With the US$ touching 1.60 to the Euro, Apple still prices it's products as if the $ is still at 1,20. To gain market share overseas Apple should drop it's prices by 20% now and launch an advertising campaign to match. Why don't they do that?

because of the lack of earnings on the dollar they want to keep up their profits by NOT dropping the Euro prices.

simple business really the euro is worth more than the dollar, the dollar wis becoming more and more like monopoly money, why make a situation worse for yourself?

I'm pretty sure it was the other way round.

I think I smell a troll... Just saying...

There is one rock-solid 'rule' for the markets.

Although the markets are often ill-informed and often react illogically, when a company continually increases its market-share and profits, then the share prices will follow.
You can argue whether AAPL is going to rise 'sooner or later' or even go dowm further. BUT what is certain* is that AAPL WILL EVENTUALLY GO UP.

* Only in the event of a complete collapse of our 'western' society will this rule then not apply.

Yes, but you're the troll, not Berger. Berger wanted and bought an Air and its fan died in two weeks. A fan isn't a complex and hard to manufacture device, I've never seen even a bad one fail until years after purchase.

Most all of the new countries in the EU are poor. They aren't up to buying expensive products. Indeed, the problem the EU has been having for the past few years, since the last round of admissions, is how to stop the Eastern Europeans from migrating westward to find jobs.

I bought the Air through my local electrical goods shop and they have a great replacement policy of 30 days, no matter what the problem; beats the heck out of Apple's 2 weeks. They also gave me a longer (5 years versus 3) extended warranty for less (150 dollars versus 300).

The Apple regional representative and I talked in January about quality issues and the Call Center (the Apple Call Center is a complete joke), and he said then that if I ever had problems to go through him, so I felt a little better about making my purchase. He was a bit shocked that only a few weeks later I had a problem (dead fan). It took him and the shop a week to get a replacement and to have it checked out by the Apple Test Center in Japan. They didn't notice that the screen was badly tilted (the first one's was straight) and certified the computer. The Apple rep brought it to the shop and was there when they gave it to me; I noticed the screen almost immediately and refused to accept the computer. The shop and the Apple guy agreed the workmanship was bad and agreed I should get another replacement as soon as possible. They will again test it and this time give the machine a better looking-over. I opened Apple.com and showed the rep the #1 list on why to choose a Mac, "It just works", and asked for Apple to honor that claim.

About other problems, I have in the past had a very hard time getting Apple to actually admit machines had problems, had pretty random luck with repairs actually rectifying the issue, occasionally had machines returned with the main problem fixed but with a new problem, or, as in the case of my iPod nano with its titled screen, had Apple say that that is perfectly within normal parameters.

In short, my experience with Apple has been pretty bad and I seriously feel that the company has peaked and it is just a matter of time before it flounders. They do not seem to care about their customers (quality control would be better as would service), rather to only be focused on making a quick buck for their shareholders, which disgusts me; nobody should get rich when customers have machines that don't work. I first posted the need for improving quality control on Apple's discussion boards back in 2005 but that was a couple of years after I first voiced that notion and questioned the "it just works" line to both my local shop and to the call center (my iBook had problems back in 2002 that Apple never could repair; I filed the machine in the permanent round file; my PM G5 was DOA twice and another failed in the shop before delivery, then that machine failed within 2 years requiring three repairs that Apple never quite got right and then ended up replacing the machine). Three years later, I have had more problems and headaches; the list is really phenomenal. Most incredible is the fact that I keep blowing my money on Apple products even after having such bad luck.

Regarding the Apple Japan Call Center: The call center once refused to admit one of my computers had a problem because they didn't have the problem already on file; Catch-22. For a keyboard issue, I was told that I typed too heavily; took it to the Ginza Store, where they fixed it once, but it took a total of 3 repairs to fix. For a software issue, I was asked if the app was an Apple product; it was the upgrade package for the Touch released by Steve Jobs... Who? That was several hours after the Call Center opened for the day; they were not informed. Several times when asking for help I could actually read along: the phone rep would just read the help menu found on the screen. When I asked once to speak to a superior, I was told they couldn't do that. Once the clerk had no idea what I was trying to explain and I ended up asking him if he was an Apple user to which he replied in the negative. A rather simple software installation issue cost 300 bucks for Apple Care: I was 2 days over the 90 day period and the center refused to answer a question that my local shop answered for free three days later even though I had bought the machine from the online Apple Store. Only recently did I discover the call center was outsourced.

BTW, I am happy for your wife. The MBA is a fantastic machine; yes, I supported it pretty strongly and still support the design. If only Apple would improve their manufacturing quality so that the quality of the construction matched that of the design.

Is there any data out there about computer failures by region? I would be interested to know if machines shipped to Japan, for example, had a failure rate that was significantly different from other regions.

Me and about 10 of my associates help make up this number. I hope
to be purchasing more Apple computers this year for employees here
at work. They are working out well for us.

Not even close. That's why I put the emoticon.
The poster I responded to, didn't get my previous post.
I was just playing the uneducated and ignorant Windoze users who thinks/thought Apple was finished along time ago. This article is evidence against that (lame) thought process.

Exactly, totally agree.

I'm one of the customers who contributed to that 14%. I've been a PC/windows user forever. The nail in the coffin was Windows Vista. I believe it was Microsoft's biggest mistake and will lead to their eventual downfall. I purchased a macbook pro and couldn't be happier. Took my Vista machine back to Costco a few days afterwards and haven't looked back.
I can't wait to see what new generation of mobile apps will be coming with the iphone 2.0 release in June.

I'm not sure what you mean. The mini is under $800. And the more apple gains market share, the more they're in a position to broaden their product line.