Paul Thurrott's math regarding mac marketshare

[speedfreak]

..... So they really don't need more market share to keep succeeding; imagine if everyone drove a BMW: where's the fun?

Well said Arden. I was thinking of Jaguar as an example to the low end mac earlier in the thread. Jaguar makes the S-type in an effort to gain market share. The quality and user experience is not even close to a real Jag. I think all that offering a low end product does is dimish the overall brand and makes the high end users move on to something else that most other people do not have. I love macs. I do not care what they cost. I pay more for a mac and it always works. Buy a cheap pc and ...duh get a cheap pc that im always trying to keep working. You get what you pay for.

 

[speedfreak]

Ever notice that when Apple has a hit product there are usually production delays? ie They cannot seem to meet demand. Is this on purpose? or After 25+ years in business, why are they unable or unwilling to get products to the consumer when they want it? Is it a fanatical set of quality procedures that keeps production perpetually behind demand? Is this a maketing tool to justify the price point? Job's is a marketing man after all.

On the positive side. The Apple stores seem to have helped this out a bit. The Apple stores are great if you have one near you. Have they finally found the right distribution system?

 

[gerbick]

Nice sound bites! You ought to be a politician.

So you're telling me that the avalanche of crap pouring out of Redmond has nothing to do with Microsoft being scared half out of their mind by Linux?

If you expect anyone to believe that, maybe you should to be a politician...

naw, if I told you that the garbage coming from Redmond was technologically superior and inherently more stable; I'd then think I'd be perfect for some type of political office. Or some over-glorified stable hand for the stuff I'd have to shovel to make any of us believe that. And there's no way you'd catch that from me... and heck, I'm a MCSE!

but man. why can't Apple break the mold a bit, and take full advantage of this possible situation.

Besides, the Linux threat is something else. Linux is taking huge in-roads into the enterprise. That's M$'s run and tell lies reason right there. That's a lot of money to lose... especially to something that runs better than Windows.

Now... the desktop. Mac has the superior OS. But man... they need to get a lower end hook to get people to the Mac format... then into the iMacs, G5's... what not. And eMacs ain't gonna do it.

 

[speedfreak]

Emacs are terrible. CRT's are hard on the eyes. Forward ... Always go forward .... Cheap is for pc's not for macs. No cheap low end macs.

 

[octane]

But man. why can't Apple break the mold a bit, and take full advantage of this possible situation...

I think they are, but they have to be careful.

We know how petulant Microsoft can be, and although Office for mac is big market for them, I have no doubt that Microsoft would drop it like hot dog doo-doo if they thought Apple tried anything funny.

That said, Microsoft could well be seeing the same signs as ol' Fred Andersen and the Apple sales & marketing people.

For me, the biggest problem for any business when competing against Microsoft has been an issue of deciding what flag to fight under. It seems that now there's really only one flag, it's Unix [or a variant thereof].

For the first time as long as I can remember, all of the competition have gathered under this one flag .. and now Apple.

Besides, the Linux threat is something else. Linux is taking huge in-roads into the enterprise. That's M$'s run and tell lies reason right there. That's a lot of money to lose... especially to something that runs better than Windows.

Now... the desktop.

Some of Linux croud think that the desktop is their right.

I went to a Linux seminar sometime last year, and the over all theme was one of frustration - why are we struggling to get onto the desktop? Why won't people use Linux on their bloody desktop?!.

The fact is, if they have to ask that question, then it's a clear sign they don't know what people want from a desktop OS.

Mac has the superior OS. But man... they need to get a lower end hook to get people to the Mac format... then into the iMacs, G5's... what not. And eMacs ain't gonna do it.

Apple have explored this and I think they see the eMac as the bottom rung of that strategy and that's as low as they're going to go with it.

The battle might be moving elsewhere. The iBook for instance is a great product and offers a very competitive price point in its class.

I don't see Apple going for the lower tier market. To make something cheaper, something has to give, and inevitably, that is component and build quality. To Apple, that's sacrilege...

 

[Arden]

potential. yes.

will it happen? heck no.

things like a cheaper headless mac to compete with the Dell's/Sony's/Micron's and other PC P.O.G. (piece o' garbage) would be nice. They're making good strides into enterprise... that I'm definitely happy about.

but the rest of Apple's strategy just plan sucks.

and last I checked, 2% total PC share versus the 6-8% they once had a few years ago doesn't equate stronger. In fact, with Corel, Adobe, and other companies not making products for the Mac on some instances, I'd say the power is waning.

This potential in the face of the upcoming lull between WinXP/Win2k3 Server to Longhorn needs to be exploited.

But it won't. ANd I can say that with full belief, I know that this time will not be exploited either.

It's a shame, imho.

Oy vei... there's also a lot more computers out there in the world, now, too. 6 or 7 years ago, everyone was predicting the death of Apple: they were stuck in the beige era with what seemed like nowhere to go, and they didn't have the vision of Steve Jobs to motivate new, awesome products. Nowadays, you see Apple ads almost all the time; the iPod has the largest chunk of the digital music player market; and people are noticing the G5 and the iMac for what they are: powerful, innovative and downright sexy. Remember, market share is usually computers sold during a period and does not accurately reflect the overall usage numbers. And besides, Apple is the #1 PC seller in the world. That must count for something.

 

[gerbick]

hey octane... good find on the M$/Mac Renaissance article. I guess all-in-all, Apple should attempt to entice people with a lower price point for a medium build - not cheaply built - machine that has no head attached to it. eMac/iMac... they both assume that the user doesn't have a monitor. Hell... I got 20" Sony CRT that's not even getting used in a different room.

And to qualify what I mean by medium build... use a G4 processor, use the GeForceFX 5200 (non-Ultra), use 256mb PC-133 SD-RAM, use an 60gb ATA-100 hard drive, use a simple DVD-ROM, give forward mounted firewire/usb 1.1 (usb 2.0 adoption is slower than even most thought) and keep it in a relatively no-frills, yet stylish case - no need for handles like the older MDD's. Slap on an Apple badge, and sell that puppy for 799.99 or so. Use the newly developed Target and Circuit City distribution deals, and then create a 15gb iPod package for 999.99 alongside 5 free iTMS downloads.

Alert the masses that it doesn't crash, it doesn't fall to the latest virii, and it's easy enough so that even Mom & Dad could set it up in under 15 minutes and be on the internet.

Watch that puppy sell to the masses, if pushed correctly.

my thoughts... I know. dreamy, and possibility stupid due to Apple's past... but man. I want this to happen soon.

 

[octane]

hey octane... good find on the M$/Mac Renaissance article. I guess all-in-all, Apple should attempt to entice people with a lower price point for a medium build - not cheaply built - machine that has no head attached to it. eMac/iMac... they both assume that the user doesn't have a monitor. Hell... I got 20" Sony CRT that's not even getting used in a different room.

And to qualify what I mean by medium build... use a G4 processor, use the GeForceFX 5200 (non-Ultra), use 256mb PC-133 SD-RAM, use an 60gb ATA-100 hard drive, use a simple DVD-ROM, give forward mounted firewire/usb 1.1 (usb 2.0 adoption is slower than even most thought) and keep it in a relatively no-frills, yet stylish case - no need for handles like the older MDD's. Slap on an Apple badge, and sell that puppy for 799.99 or so. Use the newly developed Target and Circuit City distribution deals, and then create a 15gb iPod package for 999.99 alongside 5 free iTMS downloads.

Alert the masses that it doesn't crash, it doesn't fall to the latest virii, and it's easy enough so that even Mom & Dad could set it up in under 15 minutes and be on the internet.

Watch that puppy sell to the masses, if pushed correctly.

my thoughts... I know. dreamy, and possibility stupid due to Apple's past... but man. I want this to happen soon.

Well, it's a good idea, there's no doubt about that.

I think Apple are always going to be cautious with any re-entry into the LC market, given Michael "diesel" Spindler created such a fractious market that no one -- least of Apple -- knew one line from the next.

That won't happen again, not with Stephen P. "reality distortion field" Jobs at the helm.

But then it was Gill "christ, I @&$!ing hate talking in public" Amelio who really set the ball rolling and killed off the massively blurred product range...

 

[octane]

Gerbick, this might look like me drifting off-topic a little, but here's some of the points I've touched on before.

Never thought I'd see the day that John C. Dvorak and I would be on the same wavelength...

 

[gerbick]

lol. another good article. totally true in all accounts, in my opinion. too bad Apple is susceptible to the same "fears"...

 

[soulseek]

potential. yes.

In fact, with Corel, Adobe, and other companies not making products for the Mac on some instances, I'd say the power is waning.

In fact its not.! the only reason these companies arent making some appz for the mac is probably because apple has already released something far more better. with apps like iTunes . final cut. garage band. iMovie . etc...
im not at all worried.

 

[octane]

In fact its not.! the only reason these companies arent making some appz for the mac is probably because apple has already released something far more better. with apps like iTunes . final cut. garage band. iMovie . etc...
im not at all worried.

And neither am I.

I think the mac is steadily growing out into new markets.

There's a slow but sure tide of new software coming over to the mac. Look at the HP enterprise system that launched with the Xserve. There's about a half dozen other big CRM and ERP systems that have made their way onto the mac, and more to come since the G5 came out with 64bit processing.

This puts Apple hardware into the enterprise arena.

Adobe have absolutely no intentions of walking away from the mac platform, the same way Microsoft have no intentions.

It's a small market, but it's a very lucrative one.

An argument that is often leveled at the mac market is the perceived 'dearth' of software titles.

I think if you look at this as a qualitative rather than a qualitative issue, you'll see that there's comparatively more quality software on the mac than there is for the pc.

To succeed on the mac, quality has to be your competitive differentiator. On the pc, it's more to do with cheap, no-frills box-shifting bundling because the developers know that the units sold will always make up the numbers.

I know where my pounds and pence are going...

 

[gerbick]

In fact its not.! the only reason these companies arent making some appz for the mac is probably because apple has already released something far more better. with apps like iTunes . final cut. garage band. iMovie . etc...
im not at all worried.

apple makes a CorelDraw replacement? Version 12 only came out for Windows.

 

[hulkaros]

Here is your Corel replacement -and then some- but not from Apple:
Adobe Creative Suite!

Or if you prefer eBay or something the previous version of Adobe Suite which it is still better in most parts than anything Corel can offer even with Corel GS 12

 

[fryke]

There's two ways to look at it:

1.) The Macintosh market's too small for us. Not enough potential buyers.
2.) Mac users tend to only accept the best. Not enough potential buyers.

There's a lot of really, really bad software for Microsoft Windows. And a small number of really good applications. Most of the time _those_ titles are also available for the Mac, i.e.: I don't need fifty different applications that do the same thing - I need one or two that are good.

Corel has tried, for quite some time, but I guess they've learned that Mac people have Adobe and Macromedia to take care of them.