Is Apple headed for 10% or 2% marketshare?

satchmo

It's difficult to get a handle on how well or poorly Apple will do in the coming months.



Here at A.I., we're probably a bit more critical of Apple than the average consumer. But it has been a couple of years since Jobs proclaimed his goal of converting the other 95%. So will the culmination of recent strategies such as the digital hub, Jaguar, the Switch campaign, and Apple retail stores, amount to anything?

Is it an all or nothing situation?



Obviously the health of the overall economy will dictate things. But will Apple in the coming months surge to capture 10% marketshare or wilt and end up with 2%.

stunned

Based on Apple's current pricing strategy , it is unlikely its market share will rise to 10% in the next year.



But i feel Apple's long run prospects will be good if they keep up their R&D and keep their costs down.



Go Apple go!

ast3r3x

haha apple's market share wouldn't go to 10% if all their computer were between 500 and 2500 dollars (including xserve). I think they will however grow assuming the 970 is what it is supposed to be and if apple keeps pricing somewhat competative. Either way i want apple stock to rise so i can sell it and buy a computer...hope no one else has the same idea

kecksy

I think sales will pick up once faster chips arrive and the economy turns around. Apple is in a good position to take back market share. They're opening retail stores all over the country in order to show those disgruntled with Windows that Macs are better than PCs. OS X is turning the heads of Linux users and IT directors everywhere. The iPod is making Apple a house hold name associated with coolness and quality. I think Apple is doing a lot which is good and it should pay off eventually.



Given the fact that most people aren't buying PCs and Macs are still expensive, Apple is doing well. It's not like they aren't trying to be competitive (Look at what they did with the iBook recently), it's just hard to compete price-wise with giants like DELL and $199 Wal-Mart PCs. This is the main reason why Apple is losing it's 30% stake in the education market. Price sells in bad economies.



If the economy were to pick up next year and in 2004, I think Apple could take sales away from a lot of PC manufactures. Going from 4 to 10% in two years is a lot, but Apple should be able to get there in three or four years if they don't screw things up.

idude

To grow at all, Apple must lower prices to be on par with PCs, raise performance, and increase their marketing efforts.



If they don't do these three simple things, they will have to be content with the 3.5% they own now, cause they ain't growing.

amorph

I think the 7457 will give Apple the opportunity to jump-start the iMac. They'll be able to goose CPU performance up 50% or so with no additional cooling.



As for price competitiveness, Apple is now offering edu customers <a href="http://www.macminute.com/2002/12/06/appleedu"; target="_blank">$899 iBooks</a>.



It looks like their consumer desktop strategy will get another overhaul (by the stagnancy of the iMac and eMac lines), and if the iBook is any indication it'll be aimed at winning back the education market.

idude

[quote]Originally posted by Amorph:

<strong>I think the 7457 will give Apple the opportunity to jump-start the iMac. They'll be able to goose CPU performance up 50% or so with no additional cooling.



As for price competitiveness, Apple is now offering edu customers <a href="http://www.macminute.com/2002/12/06/appleedu"; target="_blank">$899 iBooks</a>.



It looks like their consumer desktop strategy will get another overhaul (by the stagnancy of the iMac and eMac lines), and if the iBook is any indication it'll be aimed at winning back the education market.</strong><hr></blockquote>



$899 iBooks are great (I'm looking into getting one), but how many people qualify for that offer? Not many. And a lot who do qualify aren't aware it exists.

ast3r3x

[quote]Originally posted by iDude:

<strong>To grow at all, Apple must lower prices to be on par with PCs, raise performance, and increase their marketing efforts.



If they don't do these three simple things, they will have to be content with the 3.5% they own now, cause they ain't growing.</strong><hr></blockquote>



Lower prices, spend more to increase performance and spend more to market more...REAL easy to do

amorph

[quote]Originally posted by iDude:

<strong>



$899 iBooks are great (I'm looking into getting one), but how many people qualify for that offer? Not many. And a lot who do qualify aren't aware it exists.</strong><hr></blockquote>



I don't know if there are "not many" people who qualify for it. Those that don't get a $999 iBook, which is still pretty nice.



Apple advertises fairly aggressively to the students here. I hope they do likewise elsewhere.



As far as market share goes, it's hard to say. They've been inching upward a tenth of a percentage point at a time, more or less, for a while now. Their stores still haven't quite hit a sweet spot yet, and I think those are one of the front lines in the battle for market share.



Another is education. Higher ed is actually coming around (admittedly, from almost nothing). Lower ed is a problem that Apple hasn't managed to find a solution for yet.



[ 12-07-2002: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>

splinemodel

Apple has really positioned itself as a maker of luxury goods. So it is economically logical that a surging economy will purchase a higher percentage of macs, since they are luxury goods.



Speed isn't the big factor. The big factor has been and always will be compatibility and, more importantly, the status quo. IBM had the status quo, and then it sort of transferred over to Microsoft. But, interestingly enough, if Apple positions itself as a status-quo maker of luxury goods, we'll see a dedicated upper class following. Since the top 2 to 3% of income in the country may well buy 15% of the computers (or more), this is a good thing.



Marketing.