What would Apple have to do with their computers to completely own the market.
I was thinking back to the little hating I did on Mac’s the other day. A few questions went through my mind, most of them I can answer myself and are pretty obvious.
Why do people like Mac’s? Why do everyone talk about Mac’s? What make Mac’s such a big deal?
The answers to those questions are simple, I can hate on them in a random blog post all I want, but in all reality I know the answers to those questions are…
They are sexy. They are pretty. They have nothing to do with Windows or Microsoft. And simply put, all hating aside, they are overall really good computers.
My hating on Mac’s the other day had nothing to do with my opinion of Apple or Mac’s. I just don’t understand why they get so much press, they definitely do not have the market share to support all the press they get. which lead me to my other question.
What would Apple have to do to to completely take control of the market?
Of course I’m talking about the PC market, we all know that they completely own the portable media player market with their iPod. But what would Apple have to do to see the same success with the Mac business?
I have answers to that question, and the answer would pretty much make all you Mac zealots roll over in your iChairs and scream bloody iMurder.
Price, Mac’s are just to expensive!!!
- When you go to price a Mac, the first think you’d notice is that you can go to Bestbuy or Compusa and buy a similar PC for a lot less. Its not just the price of the models that Apple carry, because I simply see them as specialty items and would expect them to be a little more expensive. The biggest hold back when it comes to price is that there isn’t a Mac for every price range. Apple needs a line of Mac’s that fall into all the categories your average PC purchaser’s would fall in. They need a $500 dollar or less line, a $500-$800 line, a $1000ish line, then the rest is free game.
I know what you’re going to say
"The Mac Mini is $600ish"
They don’t count. I’m talking about a full fledge Mac….An iMac in those price ranges. With a monitor and everything. If Apple have all those ranges covered, then they could truly be an option for everyone that goes to buy a computer. The sleek and sexy design of a Mac would really come into play if they put themselves on the same shelves as the other PC’s in every price range.
Get rid of the MacOS!!!
Ok, calm down and listen. We all know that a lot of people think of Mac’s as machines that run their favorite OS and not just as a piece of hardware made by Apple. Apple even seems confused as to which way they want to go in this situation. They call themselves a hardware company first, but they still push the OS almost like they want to compete with Windows.
- I would bet that the number one reason people who don’t use Mac’s, aren’t interested in Mac’s because they have no desire to start learning or using a whole new OS.Fear that may not be compatible with what they are currently using (sounds like Vista doesnt it). Take that deterrant away, make them all Windows machines. Put XP on them, Put Vista on them. make them what we all want. I’m not talking about Bootcamp. Im not talking about Parallels. Thats just more work and money people have to spend. Not to mention my mother will never sit down long enough to figure out how to duel boot a Mac.
Now I’m not saying that the MacOS has to disappear, cause it is cool, but make it an application. Id even say offer the choice between the getting the MacOS or a Windows OS or dual boot. but make a line of Windows based Mac’s in all price ranges
Id be willing to bet my iPod is that if Apple made those 2 changes, they would completely own the PC market within about 4 or 5 years
(Jokes on you, I don’t own an iPod…..Yet)
Other post you may find interesting
- I feel like hating on Technorati, Mac’s, Firefox, and fat Mp3 players dangit!!!
- Microsoft Windows has a threat looming about and it isnt the Mac OS
- Do you hate iTunes as much as I do? Try Media Monkey.
- Windows XP is the greatest OS out today…..Thanks to Vista
- What effect will PC game makers have on PC hardware if they all start making console games?
August 11th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Noone talks about Gateway or Acer, true enough, but why should the press talk about these companies in the first place? They’re selling affordable, somewhat boring Windows personal computers, low margin products, commoditised, virtually interchangeable. Should I get a Lenovo or an Acer. Who cares? Just pick one already, and move on.
Apple is so talked about cause the company sets the trend in product design and clinches awards. Even their advertising campaigns are memorable; that’s what marketing is for, being talked about. Apple customers form an emotional attachment with the brand, even the detractors are obsessed about Apple and can’t stop talking about the iPhone, etc. Because of the secrecy surrounding the company, the Apple crowd and the press are always speculating about Apple’s next move. The secrecy is a tool to generate heaps of buzz.
Moreover, Apple is a good business story. Mac sales grow faster than the industry average, especially in the consumer market. Apple retail stores are pretty much unique, they’re packed and lucrative, iTunes is the third largest music retailer in the U.S. Apple’s profits are sky-rocketing, as is the stock price. Apple’s market capitalization passed that of Dell’s last year, Apple is now worth double Dell’s market value, $108 billion vs $60 billion. Who would have thought ten years ago?
You’re right when you say that there isn’t a Mac for every price range, and Apple would need that to take control of the PC market, very true indeed. Apple would like to gain market share but not at all costs. They’re not Acer, that’s not their business model. You want Apple to be more like other PC manufacturers, that wouldn’t be in their best interest. Apple is developing differentiated products, they can run Windows if needed but the Mac is not just another PC.
Apple is addressing more price points with the iPod, thus their share is way higher. Unlike the PC market, it was an all new market, ripe for the taking. iPods are still sold at a nice profit, though, and Apple’s diversification into consumer electronics is a success. In comparison, Microsoft’s Zune is not as successful, their Xbox 360 is sold at a loss and looks like a money pit.
This week a journalist asked Steve Jobs about the low-end PC market, here is Jobs’s response: “Our goal is to make the best personal computers in the world and make products we are proud to sell and recommend to our family and friends. We want to do that at the lowest prices we can. But there’s some stuff in our industry that we wouldn’t be proud to ship. And we just can’t do it. We can’t ship junk. There are thresholds we can’t cross because of who we are.”
It sounds pretty smug, calling entry-level computers “junk”. In the U.S. most personal computers are sold below $700 and the average selling price is declining over the years. Most people can’t afford a $1,200 iMac in the first place, Macs are priced out of their league. Jobs described Apple’s goals in emotional terms (best PCs… proud… recommand to our friends… as opposed to junk), it doesn’t tell the whole story. From a cold business point of view, Apple is a very valuable brand, shipping a $300 loss leader would damage its stylish image. The company wants to resist commodization to defend its margins and profits, this is as much a question of profitability as a question of pride.
August 12th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I understand why Apple as a company is talked about. but im specifically talking about Mac’s. Yea when a company owns 95% of the MP3 player market with a 100 million or so iPods sold and is releasing a new player, people want to know whats going on. But its ridiculous with the Mac side of things.
I mean you have the Macbook and the Macbook pro, that was like 2 completely separate media hype blitzes. The Mighty Mouse was talked about like crazy…its just a mouse, I would say Logitech makes the best mice out there with Microsoft at a close second and there just isn’t that type of hoopla over every new MX revolution that is released.
I really think the hype is half marketing and half the rabid Mac fanbase. The iPod success has a lot to do with it too. People say its design and "its not your average PC". when it comes to Mac design, they aren’t afraid to try things and different and thats good and Im glad someone is doing it but look at the original iMac, the PowerMac G4, the Mac pro. Different but thats about it, the original iMac was actually pretty ugly. Ive always thought the Mac displays were pretty awesome, and I like the Notebook. but even in the case with the notebooks, there are other good looking notebooks out there. You mentioned Lenovo like it was something to sneeze at, but those Thinkpads have been some of the best reliable notebooks out there, and they look pretty cool themselves.
One thing that you mention is that Mac’s arent just another PC. My question is what makes them not just another PC, asides from the Mac OS? Maybe theres something Im missing. to me they are indeed pretty much just another PC, when they had the Power PC chips, they were different, but now more than ever they are basically PC’s. If I buy a iMac and install windows on it, it woulnt be any different than any other PC of the same specs I would buy other than the design. The usability would be the same. The same with the Mac notebooks, when I bought my last notebook, I considered getting a Macbook since it was capable of running Windows and just putting windows on it. I then priced it, and a Mac with about the same specs as the Toshiba I was purchasing cost about $400 bucks more, and had a lesser Video card than the Toshiba, not to mention the Toshiba is also a nice looking notebook.
Your comparison of Apple and Dell’s market value is also a little misleading. Apple is the king if MP3 players and online music sales, which I would pretty much bet is a very big portion of why their value is what it is. looking at it that way, if you were able to separate Apple the music company from Apple the Computer company, I would be willing to bet the value wouldn’t be anywhere near Dell. That comparison is almost like comparing the Zune to the iPod but using the full company market value of Microsoft vs Apple as a reference of how great the Zune is. But you look a couple market shares away at Hewlett Packard and youd see that even though HP is primarily a PC business, you have HP at 126 billion vrs Apple’s 108 billion
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I agree with the pricing issue. In my opinion, that is the main reason they haven’t taken over yet. I know alot of people are just used to their PC’s, but I think tons more people would be open to trying a Mac, if not for the higher price tag.