2.6 and falling.
Forget 5%, either domestically or worldwide, Apple's marketshare is at an all time low, an abysmal 2.6% according to CNN Money. So what has Jobs accomplished in terms of stemming the tide? Nothing. Maybe they're losing ground at a lower rate, but they're still fading.
Yeah, I must be wrong about the whole price thing.
Yeah, I must be wrong about the whole price thing.
Comments
funny, I read the same article 5 minutes ago. macnn isn't bad.
edit: can't, I missed the 't originally.
[ 09-25-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
Then again, not having alot of people having Macs do make me special.
hmmm.... dilemma....
[quote]PC Mag recommends iPhoto
"Your best bet is to get a Macintosh," says PC Magazine to prospective digital still camera buyers, in a recent special on the most popular devices. The report, which samples 23 cameras ranging from $300 to $1000, recommends the Mac for photo editing and management, citing the industry's "most intuitive image management software" -- iPhoto -- as a selling point of the platform. In addition to praising Apple's innovative design, Apple's iMac also recognized with an Editor's Choice award for the 'Consumer Desktop' category ("a funky-looking all-in-one with a sharp flat-panel display. The Voodoo deserves points for being the most talked-about PC we had in our labs")<hr></blockquote>
What has SJ done? He has stemmed the losses, intro'd THE most popular single computer of all time (original iMac), put $4 billion in the bank (compare Apples cash reserves vs. market share/value to any other co. They're in a good position) thanks to said computer, and managed to keep the profits a-comin' despite a downturn in the economy. He has also, in the space of ~year, made the MacOS the single largest UNIX distro. People on both sides of the fence are talking, as demonstrated by the above quote. Everywhere one looks, OS X and the iApps are being discussed and praised. And this is the consumer market here. With the intro of the Xserve, Apple is poised to actually enter the low-end server market. Again, much praise, particularly regarding the ease of admin and the unlimited licensing. And I haven't even touched on the iPod.
So this 2.6%... Is this new purchases, or installed base? Does it look simply at the comsumer desktop, or does it take into account schools (where they are losing ground, yes, I know...) and the enterprise market? Is this world-wide, or just the US?
I'd comment that one must take these numbers with a grain of salt, and perhaps a bit of perspective. If Apple is dead in the water, then why do companys like Gateway feel the need to compete directly with them? You yourself, with all of your negativity, apparently can't help but admire what Apple has done, as demo'd by your sig. If something ain't a threat or a blessing, then it's generally ignored by Joe Public. Which is why others attempt to follow Apples lead. How many tried to replicate the original iMacs success? How many have tried to imitate the iPod? And now they're following suit with the iMac FP..
Yeah, Jobs has done nothing. 'Cept make the world stop and do a double-take. The OS and other software is in place. Hopefully, the hardware will be next. IBM, anyone?
<edit>
Here's <a href="http://www.macobserver.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7394"; target="_blank"> a link to TMO</a>; read the 3rd post down, by DawnTreader. Makes an interesting point in regards to this very subject. And the 5th post, by Bryan, makes for an interesting rebuttal to DT. Both by TMO staff.
</edit>
(tig)
[ 09-25-2002: Message edited by: The Grimace ]
[ 09-25-2002: Message edited by: The Grimace ]</p>
Apple needs more realistic prices like those of the ibooks. In my opinion, ibooks are the only machines worth buying.
<hr></blockquote>
I couldn't agree more. The iBooks and the iPod are the only to products worth that kind of money. The tiBook is ok, but way to high priced.
Yes I admire MacOS9 and OSX and the ease and integration, but I deplore the prices, the lack of expansion/upgradeability in the affordable models, and the out-of-date specification, the inadequate 1 year warrantee, and the rigid product structure that forces me to buy features I don't want in order to get features that I do want.
Steve may have gotten lots of people to take second a look... right before they go to the PC aisle and pick-up a nice PC.
Apple's philosophy is out of step with changes in the computer market, faster hardware might mitigate that but it won't fix it. People just don't want to spend more.
The iMac's success is also inflated by the nature of the mac line-up. Is there an affordable alternative mac? Nope. A cheap tower would trounce the iMac, but you can't have one. It's just as profitable to sell many 'models' of basically modular computers (generic Mobo, GPU, CPU etc etc...) as selling one AIO computer in a few configs. In that light the iMac's sales are not greater than a number of other companies total consumer sales they just seem that way because Apple only sold one model.
What I like to see is a gameplan and structure.
Apple now has a Viable Server Architecture to push into new areas.
Apple has the BEST Digital Lifestyle products available in Consumer PC's.
Apple has a very scaleable OS architecture that is rapidly improving.
Apple has capable and effective leadership.
Apple has a retail presence in many areas where none previously existed.
Apple has favorable press versus being labeled "beleagered"
The only thing I'm worried about for the near future is stoppeing the losses in the EDU channel.
I'm excited by Apple's new forays into Digital Audio/Video.
I haven't bought a Mac in years so I haven't done my part but that's changing in 2003. I'm excited.
"...the 3rd post down, by DawnTreader. Makes an interesting point in regards to this very subject. And the 5th post, by Bryan, makes for an interesting rebuttal to DT..."<hr></blockquote>
I actually read BOTH the posts, and I'm inclined to side more with Bryan.
I've often read posts that highlighted Apple's 4+ billion dollar cash reserves. The question is, how much of that reserve are they willing to sacrifice to gain market share? If their reserves reach 5+ billion next year, but market share remains flat, has Apple really achieved success?
The real question becomes: How can Apple get more consumers to buy their hardware? So far, the strategy seems to be to convince people on the fence to "switch" to the Macintosh OS. But will that be enough to make a difference in market share? What about the education market? The business market? The gamer market? The die-hard Linux market? The die-hard PC market?
It seems to me that Apple's playing the marketing game AWFULLY-CONSERVATIVELY for a company with so much cash to burn.
My $0.02,
-theMagius
Even so, their switch campaigns are targeting the right people, IMO--people fed up with PCs and ready to consider an alternative. This may not be a relatively big segment, but it's the one that Apple has the best chance of wooing to their side. They're pushing the strength of the Macintosh platform which even a lot of PC users recognize--ease of use, and the "digital hub" concept.
Once the hardware catches up to the software, we'll most likely see a differnt campaign appealing to power users rolling out.
[ 09-25-2002: Message edited by: BuonRotto ]</p>
<strong>Yeah. Apple should focus on slashing prices like Gateway does. <snicker></strong><hr></blockquote>
All sarcasm aside, Apple should slash prices. But not like Gateway. I think there a middle ground where Apple can cut it's margins but still make a profit.
Knocking off $500 off a machine like the iMac may not be possible, but certainly possible with the dual PowerMacs.
Buying/using a Mac is my one concession to the whole "hey, I pay a bit more to get the best" line of thinking. I drive a Saturn, buy clothes from Target, play $225 Danelectro guitars and drink domestic beer.
But dammit, when it comes to computers, I WILL NOT sell myself short and buy a piece-of-shit, cookie-cutter PC.
NEVER!
<strong>
All sarcasm aside, Apple should slash prices. But not like Gateway. </strong><hr></blockquote>
I couldn't agree more, in these potentially deflationary times (read: dangerous times) Apple will do well to make certain it has very little inventory on hand, and do everything it can to keep prices as competitive as possible ...
\t... just short of getting caught up in a zero-profit/loss leader war of market share attrition.
Now Apple's in a bit of an unfortunate position market share wise, since they don't have a lot of room to retreat, which is why they have to cut this one pretty fine ... but it would be a really bad move for them to panic and totally slash prices into a loss leader position just to maintain a market share number. They'd wind up whizzing away their cash reserves and when the economy picks up, there'd be few willing to buy their new machines at a profit since they already bought machines when they where cheap.
Don't get me wrong, Apple's gotta fight the market share war as best it can, and price does come into this ... but for now, maintaining profitability is more important.
Unfortunately, the increasing unsuitability of Motorola as a provider of desktop chips is the biggest thing that's slowly killing them ...
\t... and unfortunately, for now, that's out of their hands.
26% Profit Margin (or something like that) is dead. It died the day their stock went from the 60's down to the 20's... (00-01) (tech bubble burst)
Until their hardware is halfway up to par with wintel, people will hold back from buying. The "Buy new, every two (years)" is also dead. Im using a 400Mhz G3 iMac DV and i don't really have any plans to upgrade. Why should I? It has firewire, a decent graphics card (for QIII, SIMS, Civilazation, etc). It runs OS X, it has Firewire...
So again....lower the profit margin. Get the iMac down to 999.00 for a CD-RW. Get the iBooks down to 999.00 for a CD-ROM. Get the PowerBooks down to 2000.00 starting. Get the Towers down to 1399.00
Think about what it would mean to have thin margins on Macs. With selling just a couple hundred thousand a quarter, their margins could provide them with maybe just a few million in revenue each quarter, before paying their expenses like employees and R & D etc.
Maybe if Apple went with this approach, they could increase market share, which could result in more profits. But I don't think so.
I think what would happen is that they would start losing money and people would see Apple as a doomed company and their marketshare would decrease, not increase. The "give stuff away at cost to increase mindshare and marketshare" philosophy is what made the tech bubble a bubble. It doesn't work. Companies have to be profitable first.
In any case, that's where the debate should be. Not "they should lower prices dude! I can get a dell for $600!"
These are schools where Macs were networked this summer using OSx 10.1+, and which need drivers for scanners and printers and generally need their own security software to mesh with the OS without crashing and/or causing problems.
The other, and this is very serious, is large Print shops that use both Macs and PCs, have everythiing all networked together and need the things to have all the drivers and compatability and etc . . . . I have heard this from a very big shop in NYC . . . and they are so pissed that they just may not go for the exchange . . . .
Apple needs to get all of teh peripherals compatible and working now . . . they also need to plan all of their future upgrades so that they happen before schools are upgrading at the end of the summer . . . which means pushing the MacWorlds up a few/or three weeks/month.
as well as prices . . . at least their obscene pre-installed RAM prices . . . they're absurd <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
<strong>Companies have to be profitable first.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
And that's what Apple is--profitable.
The way to sustain and become more profitable is to grow marketshare. No, not if it means losing money on each machine. But as Gumby5647 mentioned, a twenty something profit margin is ridiculous.
The reason people keep thinking Apple is doomed is because of it's tiny marketshare. And while Jobs proclaims to want the other 95%, he does very little in achieving that goal.
Perception is so important. And every PC user I know who even remotely considers a Mac claims that it's the price that's stopping them from buying one. And how can you argue when it practically is double the cost of a PC.
If you want to use the car analogy, a BMW was once considered a luxury car. But even they have responded to market conditions and are now somewhat competitive with a Honda Accord. Still more expensive mind you, but not by that much anymore.
Once people begin to see that a Mac does not cost that much more than a PC, will they consider buying one.