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1. Comment - Nearly half the money spent at US retail on desktop PCs goes to Apple

   (Nov 25, 2009 - 9:21 PM)

   Very basically, while both are personal computers, they are NOT in the same market. WIN PC users and buyers for the most part have so POISONED by the WIN PC experience that having a computer is nearly more trouble than its worth LITERALLY so they want to pay as little as possible because obviously to function in society, you need the internet & email. Hence, WIN PC's are the ONLy technology sector where people are willing to pay less to get a smaller screen, slower processor, smaller HDD just to pay as little as possible!
   
   Mac buyers on the other are generally pleased with their experience and find value in the price of Macs - most notably, Mac Mini's and MacBooks are NOT the best selling Macs, higher priced Macs are so it's not as though people wnt the mac experience but want to pay as little as possible.
   
   NPD data supports this - at the retail level, macs have 91% of the $1k+ market share. Two takeaways from this. There are only 10% of PC users who are not poisoned by the experience and don;t just presume that shopping for PC means spending the absolute minimum. Also, in 10 years, WIN PC of the $1k market has fallen from 98% to 9%.
   
   You just have to read through the PC users comments here where they do spec & price comparisons because EVERY WIN PC is like another WIN PC. If Walgreen's started selling a $199 PC, it would interest Pc users because to them, ALL PC's are the same and price is the ONLY factor after you compare specs. The PC Hunter ads by Ms confirm this (I want a PC with a screen,keyboard and under $700). Because the WIN PC experience is based solely on price after a few choices ... Buyers of Macs simply have a DIFFERENT value system based on their experience that PRICE is not the only major factor in choosing a computer.
   
   This is why during the WORST GLOBAL recession since the 1930's when MS & Dell are claiming it's the economy while Apple sales are up 35% ... For many buyers, they equate WIN PC with a necessary purchase at the absolute minimal price and many of that group cannot fathom why Mac users would willingly pay more - because they simply dont know any better or cannot imagine there is a different computer experience. I'm sure they flat out do not believe that with 60 million OSX users, there are exactly ZERO viruses after 10 years while WIN OS versions running on as few as 500,000 machines can get a netbot infection ...
   
   Macs hold their value more and are valued by most purchasers. It's not a right or a wrong - it's simply a fact. WIN PC users have been so poisoned by their experience that 90% flat out refuse to buy on any factor outsde of price. NOTHING WRONG or RIGHT. Just a fact of life.

2. Comment - BlackBerry shipments grew five times faster than iPhone in Q3

   (Nov 5, 2009 - 6:57 PM)

   While you examine one set of numbers closely, you might want to examine all the numbers in addition to the intl versus US market plus the bigger picture is marketshare does not equal margins does not equal profits. Does Apple care if nokia is king of the $49 smartphone - if you understood the industry, you would understand that Apple does not chase market share - only until margins drop substantially ... like the netbook market has 2% margins, why would apple want to enter that market? selling something just to sell something is a game that fits some companies that need volume ... like Blackberry has buy 1 get 1 phone because that helps them to sell RIm servers ... basically they hope to push the phone into the hands of users so the backend It has to buy more servers. Their "market share " goals are entirely different but here's where Changewave comes in - USAGE is an important factor - it seems to indicate that more Blackberries does not mean a spike in usage - as blackberry users tend to be corporate email users - get an email, read it - type a response. Click phone to sleep. Apple makes $600-$700 PER PHONE (including itunes & subsidies). NO ONE else is close (why Rim announced a stockbuyback because next Q sales are slowing - after all, when you give away a free phone, there is a limit) and Android, 50 telcos and manufacturers will muddy the marketing message so the phones are only worth $39 ... in the confusion of each android sniping the other, Apple wins, Rim places in the most important category of all - PROFITS & MARGINS.

3. Comment - Must Microsoft Store copy Apple Store to succeed?

   (Nov 2, 2009 - 6:17 PM)

   Joe, you did a good job of encapsulating all the reasons why Apple needed to/wanted to open their own retail stores but typical MS, they only see "success and think by emulating it close enough on the surface, slapping their name on something means they will win except that MS has ZERo consumer successes since 1998 - essentially the post internet era - and its fitting that their internet division lost $700 million dollars - what does that say about a technology company that not only can't turn a profit on the internet but is $700 million in the red? XBox? They have spent about $30 billion to make $16 billion, that is not just bad math but a bad deal for shareholders. WebTV, home media PC, WinCE, winMobile, MSN, watchOS, Bob, plays4sure, Vista, Zune ... the list of FAILURES is staggering - how many other companies are essentially ZERO for 11 years in product launches? Basically, their 90% margins on the enterprise side pays for these follies so instead of MS being a brilliant enterprise software company, they are an inept consumer company ... and frankly, the stores won't help because unlike Apple, you really expect them to offer tech support for every PC ever sold? Apple will try and fix any mac even out of warranty - obviously if it needs hardware to fix, you need to buy the part. Will MS really be launching world class products every year such as imacs, iphones, ipods, etc, etc ... to keep up the buzz and excitement?
   
   MS through its inactions has branded its own OS as a "free" OS you get with a computer (who pays $299 for an OS on a $399 computer?) or the OS of 120,000 viruses and shutdowns? Or the 50% fail rate of Xboxes?
   
   Ms has poisoned its own name and is now living on borrowed time. In 8 years, they will be a fine enterprise company but will be licensing out its name like Xerox or RCA to Tv cables, breath mints and energy drinks for consumers.

4. Comment - Mac malware poses as popular freeware PDF viewer

   (Aug 25, 2009 - 5:43 PM)

   Two things.
   
   BetaNews - 10 Years.
   
   Last Mac Infection - 10 Years.
   
   Sure, lab guys and others will find these but in real life? We have a built in PDF reader called PREVIEW (that also edits and saves PDF - don;t have to buy a $200 version like on the WIN side) so who's going to download a PDF reader on the Mac side. That's like creating a trojan for stickies or a mouse pointer.
   
   But for PC users confused.
   
   PC Infection:
   Turn on PC.
   
   Mac Infection.
   Turn on Mac.
   Launch Browser.
   Go to Porn Site.
   Download malware (as app).
   Launch Installer.
   Click YES you want to install app you downloaded from internet.
   Type in ADMIN password.
   Launch app.
   Click YES you want to run app you downloaded from internet.
   
   that is why after 10 years of OSX, there are no non-lab malware, viruses, trojans, etc ...

5. Comment - The end of the PC pothole, for everyone but Apple

   (Mar 17, 2009 - 6:49 PM)

   The average selling price of a Pc is down to $556 - so half the people buying PC's is swapping out a $999 PC for a $299 one - nice margins there. So while Mac sales have dropped a little, with margins at 30%, Apple can afford margins to drop a little ... plus new macs were introduced in March - really indepth analysis of 30 days in a marketoplace without looking at the bigger picture - this is why the industry needs new analysts.