Is a Higher Market Share Good or Bad?

[CalBoy]

Considering the newest numbers we've seen, the time has come to once again consider if we want more people using OS X. Post your reasoning along with your vote:)

[Maui]

My stock does.

[j/k/Andy]

I hope Apple stays under 10% but above 5%. Maybe another Apple type company will also come along and help spur advancements.

[Fearless Leader]

My stock does.

Cha ching - Same here, and oh boy does our stock love us?

I think its great that more people are being enlightened, but OS X and Apple is not for all.

[Arantxa]

It's lonely at the top.

[srf4real]

Soon to be just another computer manufacturer with crappy quality and crappy service with nothing but a bad a** OS to brag about... and Microsoft will even catch up with that eventually. Everything that goes huge always starts skimping on the little details that make a product like a mac so much better.

*Death before intel.:cool:

[iBookG4user]

It really doesn't matter to me, I enjoy using Mac OS X and I find all the programs that I need just fine. With the lower market share I know that hackers aren't even going to try to write viruses for it (not to mention that its a lot harder to write viruses for). So I don't see a problem with having a lower market share.

[Arantxa]

^(sfr4real) OMG at the pessimism! Can't we just hope that Apple will always remain the Apple we love?

[clevin]

of course, larger market share means more 3rd party apps, more free apps, more discoveries, easier to find help when system has any problem, maybe even cheaper price!

only downside is more security problems, but I can handle it.

[Queso]

Larger Mac market share means the Football League will stop locking me out of Stockport County commentaries by using Windows only DRM.

[miniConvert]

Larger Mac market share can only be a good thing in my eyes. Ok, I'm not sure I'd ever want OS X to account for the majority of installed desktop OS's, but I think we need to at least double what we have in order to get better software and, as dynamicv puts it, stop being 'locked out' of things as a minority that developers can afford to snub.

[edesignuk]

quality control seems to be steadily going down the s***ter :rolleyes:

edit: see, bartelby's my man! :D

[bartelby]

A larger market share would be nice if Apple can sort out their quality control.
They seemed to be having trouble getting trouble free machines out the factory door.

[clevin]

quality control seems to be steadily going down the s***ter :rolleyes:


ah, I forgot to mention this as another downside

maybe a bigger marketshare will eventually give us an Open OSX?

[FJ218700]

A larger market share would be nice if Apple can sort out their quality control.
They seemed to be having trouble getting trouble free machines out the factory door.

By thoughts exactly. I never had a Mac in for repair from 1993 through my Ti. But my PB 1.67 has been in 4 times.

SJ needs to crack down on this issue

[Eric Lewis]

more market share..will bring lots of windows software onto the mac..and better machines and lots more gaming will be mac compatible in the future

[pigoz]

I think more market share would be a good thing. It would be great if Microsoft lost its monopoly, but I don't want to see apple taking it's place.
I think monopoly is really bad for progress, expecially when the monopolist acts like Microsoft: M$ keeps it's dominant position not with good products but creating closed "standards" incompatible with other platforms.

[clevin]

I think more market share would be a good thing. It would be great if Microsoft lost its monopoly, but I don't want to see apple taking it's place.
I think monopoly is really bad for progress, expecially when the monopolist acts like Microsoft: M$ keeps it's dominant position not with good products but creating closed "standards" incompatible with other platforms.

thats the key, as apple's current model, the monopoly of apple would be 10X more closed than M$.

[CalBoy]

maybe a bigger marketshare will eventually give us an Open OSX?

I don't know...it seems the "Apple" way has always been to keep the OS closely tied to the hardware; it's almost the selling point. I doubt we would see an open OS X (or any number thereafter) even if market share went beyond 30-40%. Although I do like the look and feel of Apple's designs. In the computer industry, they are impossible to match for their beauty and minimalist layout, so for me, I want the Apple hardware with the software.

[IJ Reilly]

Higher market share <> lower product quality. Ask Toyota.

My portfolio loves Apple's increased market share. There's no inherent downside, except to snobs who really prefer being in a small minority.

BTW, the poll question doesn't really agree with the thread title. I looked at the thread title and voted "no."

[SupadudeX]

quality control seems to be steadily going down the s***ter :rolleyes:

edit: see, bartelby's my man! :D

No kidding. Already had to replace the logic board on my October MacBook Pro. Thank god it was under warrenty. The bill came out to $1500. Why it costs that much to replace a logic board is beyond me.

[CalBoy]

BTW, the poll question doesn't really agree with the thread title. I looked at the thread title and voted "no."

Well I sort of wanted written responses to have a good/bad tilt, but the poll to be simple. Although I could have written the poll differently...oh well, too late now:p

[bousozoku]

A higher market share every quarter is desirable. It's not just that the sales keep Apple alive but the interest from developers should also rise and we might just get back to the levels of the early 1990s, as far as software goes.

Despite it sounding bad, the interest in hacking Mac OS X will probably increase and that's a good thing because Apple hasn't quite taken security all that seriously. Any chance to keep the machine's contents out of the hands of wrongdoers (who says wrongdoers? :D) is fine with me. If I wanted the world to know my business, I'd write a book.

We need more software and more compatibility. If websites see that more than 10 % of their visitors are using Macs, they might actually care how things are displayed and run.

Who can argue with more and better?

[IJ Reilly]

Well I sort of wanted written responses to have a good/bad tilt, but the poll to be simple. Although I could have written the poll differently...oh well, too late now:p

My fault really for reading too quickly. I just saw "Higher Market Share ... Bad?" and punched "no." That's what I get for trying to talk on the phone and read at the same time.

[zap2]

good for Apple no question.


For users it brings more devs, which means for apps. Also Apple might be willing to expand the product line if there are lots of people needing different types of computers running OS X.

Also more people enjoying OS X, so I'd say its overall a good thing.

[CalBoy]

My fault really for reading too quickly. I just saw "Higher Market Share ... Bad?" and punched "no." That's what I get for trying to talk on the phone and read at the same time.

No biggie:) Are you using an iPhone?

[bousozoku]

good for Apple no question.


For users it brings more devs, which means for apps. Also Apple might be willing to expand the product line if there are lots of people needing different types of computers running OS X.

Also more people enjoying OS X, so I'd say its overall a good thing.

As long as Apple don't go back to the 23 motherboards they had when Steve Jobs returned to the company. That was an excessive time when they had lost direction.

[jczubach]

i voted good. understand the current frustrations, but apple is in the midst of growing pains, and the faithful must endure along with the mother-ship, unfortunately.but i think we can all agree that the world of computing will be a better place without the current monopoly of the mediocre. Lessons will be learned.

[IJ Reilly]

No biggie:) Are you using an iPhone?

No, since you asked. I just like to promote the image.

[Frisco]

If anyone thinks higher market share is bad, you have got to be kidding. Just think about all the Windows apps you love, but aren't available for Mac. Or even all the Windows apps that are ported to Mac and suck (think Quickbooks).

But, it doesn't matter. The OS war is over and MS won that a long time ago. Apple is clinging to scraps. Unless Apple licenses OS X----game over. And please spare me the argument, "Well Apple tried that in the 90s." This is a different day and age. Unfortunately, I don't believe Apple will "Think Different."

[CalBoy]

No, since you asked. I just like to promote the image.
Ahh. You really did have me there for a second.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Apple will "Think Different."

I don't either. I think the only way that will ever happen is if Jobs leaves (more a matter of when, as he's not immortal). If market share is at 20%, the new leader of Apple might realize that there is great potential in limited licensing (ie, only to companies who agree to have high hardware standards and follow Apple's guidelines). It's true really: those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it.

[-::ubermann::-]

more mac users=more apps, more support
people, think a bit

[CalBoy]

more mac users=more apps, more support
people, think a bit

It also means more QA problems and more security vulnerability. It isn't a one-sided thing. That said, I too believe that on balance, it's a good thing.

[Silencio]

I don't either. I think the only way that will ever happen is if Jobs leaves (more a matter of when, as he's not immortal). If market share is at 20%, the new leader of Apple might realize that there is great potential in limited licensing (ie, only to companies who agree to have high hardware standards and follow Apple's guidelines). It's true really: those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it.

I voted "yes" that more marketshare is a good thing for the platform, as it will lead to more third party software and hardware choices, fewer compatibility problems with web sites, &c. I want to see AutoCAD on the Mac, I want to see more games, I want to see Intuit actually give a crap about the Mac again. These things will happen if companies see that they would leave too much money on the table by continuing to ignore the Mac.

However, I do not think Apple should chase marketshare for marketshare's sake at the expense of profitability. Dell has a far greater marketshare than Apple, but their short-term prospects are in the tank and journalists have stuck the dreaded "beleaguered" tag on them now. For now, Apple has struck the right balance IMO, even if they're not giving me everything I'd hope and wish for.

I do think Apple may be considering "opening up" Mac OS X to third party x86 machines if they make huge gains in marketshare. Something in the 20%+ range might be feasible, though it's a long ways between now and then. If they do it too soon, they'll torpedo their own profitability that's largely driven by margins on hardware and you'll probably see a repeat of the whole OS/2 situation with IBM in the 90s. Apple's smarter than that.

[Zwhaler]

If I were a stockholder, of course higher is better. But to be honest, I like the small 4% marketshare that Apple *had* (its growing) it was nice to feel like such a small community.

[Cult Follower]

I'm one of those people who doesn't like change. I just want Apple to stay the way it is. What's wrong with the current market share. I don't want to go to the coffee shop and see nothing but mac users, what's the fun in that. But what do I know?

[zap2]

I'm one of those people who doesn't like change. I just want Apple to stay the way it is. What's wrong with the current market share. I don't want to go to the coffee shop and see nothing but mac users, what's the fun in that. But what do I know?

:rolleyes:

Bigger market, more money. More money Apple can take risks. Risks means new products. New Products is good.

Do you think we'd see if the iPhone is Jobs had not come back, if iPod had not sold well, if iMac had failed?

[steamboat26]

^(sfr4real) OMG at the pessimism! Can't we just hope that Apple will always remain the Apple we love?

If only, the problem is that guys like Steve and Gates are getting up there in terms of age, and while they have delegated significant responsibilities to other higher-ups, once they retire/leave their respective companies, their vision probably won't be continued with their replacements. Its the unfortunate truth :(

I said that a higher market share is bad because of the potential for viruses/spyware.