Apple Brand on the Rise, Microsoft on the Decline

[tuneman07]

I just bought a Mac for the first time ever (Will be here in 3 days) I have to say mostly just because PC's pushed me away.

Every PC I have ever owned has slowed down massively within a 2 year period and has been plagued by little problems here and there that aren't really related to anything or fixable. Even my buddy's computer which is 1 year old performs like garbage right now- its slow as hell and plagued with these annoying problems- this thing was blazing fast just 12 months ago.

My Ipod and some glowing customer service experiences with it really opened my eyes to Apple and how they handle things- Msoft seems to have a very "too bad kiss our behinds what are you gonna do if we don't help you?" attitude but I was really surprised how helpful Apple was- they seem to actually care (probably because they have to as they don't own 3/4 of the universe)

The Ipod touch in particular which I just bought is an amazing device- this comes from a company that obviously puts thought into what it is doing and is very innovative.

In the end Apple feels like a company whereas Msoft feels like the DMV or some government agency. I think it is just because they are so big they don't feel the need to do much of anything and they are going to suffer for that.

 

[thefourthpope]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

*ahem* duh

 

[elppa]

Why could I predict that BongoBanger and SiliconAddict et al would manage to put a negative slant on this when the thread had zero comments?

Hope you're having fun

 

[gifford]

Only one?

I would have thought 4 or 5 Unix or "Unix Like" Commercial OS's making up the market.

hmm yeah maybe, I always presumed one OS would win out in the 70% 'budget computer' segment, my guess would have been Android (eventually).


But RIM, Nokia, Linux, Android, hell even msft might bring out a nix os (the best move they could ever make )

 

[MindBrain]

I'll tell ya why they're dropping, it's cause of that wackjob Steve Ballmer! Hahaha, what a nut

 

[robanga]

MSFT has a loooong way to fall. Apple has a long way to rise. MSFT will reinvent itself no doubt. Apple will flourish still

 

[uNext]

People get suckered into marketing like moths to a flame.
No wonder this companies have strategies on how to manipulate the brain through advertising.

The fan base ratio for apple I believe it to be around 10% actual users/ fans of well crafted software and design, and the remaining 80% are the moths who believe apple is way superior then a windows laptop when the only difference between the 2 is a freaking software system.
Vista under went an entire facelift behind the scenes..so much that alot of you fan boys will never understand the different architectures used and why some of the stuff is not compatible with vista which by the way most of the time is the 3rd party companies fault for failing to provide a working driver. if I recall correctly vista was on beta for 2 years before being released. but hey why not blame microsoft for it. Apple says their dorky and unreliable so I believe them.

I love apple but they are so kiddish sometimes they have superior products and software go toe to toe based on that not resorting to kindergarden tactics and calling names.

 

[Syrus28]

Wait. Apple isn't even on the second list...

But anyways, Apple has that "in your face" kind of effect. Their logo has a big visual presence on basically EVERY type of product they makes. Then, their "i" prefix makes people think of Apple too. iMac, iPod, Apple TV, Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, etc.

Microsoft doesn't use it's name religiously like Apple. Instead, they build a presence using different brand names pertaining to the product. The Xbox, Zune, Windows, MSN, and LIVE are all their own brand names. Its not surprising that it doesn't rank as high as Apple.

Off Topic: NBC just reported (as in while i was typing this) that Apple ordered 10 million 3G iphones for launch before the end of June... Maybe it really is true!

 

[QuarterSwede]

Seeing Walmart at #32 makes this poll lose all credibility.


The actual survey results if anyone's interested.

 

[Syrus28]

Seeing Walmart at #32 makes this poll lose all credibility.


The actual survey results if anyone's interested.

Hey... Wal-Mart is the PINNACLE of all retail stores. At least the new ones anyway.


I too have a hard time believing these results. Companies like Dell or HP aren't on there but Texas Instruments? Then, where's Samsung, or Nintendo? And also, who or what is a "Anheuser-Busch", that ranked ahead of Disney? Also, no Apple, no Google?
I like these results from Interbrand/Business week a lot better. Just seems more believable.

P.S. What's with the article spin? Why quote one source for praise of Apple as "the brand people could not live without" then quote another (which apple is not even on) to show Microsoft's comparison to Apple?

Microsoft is #7 in "the brand people could not live without" btw, if anyone was curious.

 

[BongoBanger]

Why could I predict that BongoBanger and SiliconAddict et al would manage to put a negative slant on this when the thread had zero comments?

Hope you're having fun

It's not negative, sport. It's facts. You can carry on living in candyfloss land if you like, commercial reality will continue to determine how the world works.

However, if you ask the admin's nicely I'm sure they'll make a board entitled "Relentlessly unrealistic happy talk!" just for you.

Now, unless you actually have anything to add to the topic - which, if I may remind you, is about market perception - I suggest that you stop trolling and move on.

 

[sdds]

when was the last time anyone proclaimed they "love" vista. it may work to suit people's needs . . . but there's no community dedicated to the greatness of and fanaticism for windows.

well maybe not community sites, but certainly very dedicated fanboi sites
On the subject of Mr Thurrott: Even if he posts somewhat positivish articles about Apple products I still can't rid myself of the feeling that he's not happy with them because they're not from Microsoft....

 

[Eraserhead]

however Asia pacific includes Australia, New Zealand and India - increasingly so - who do.

Excluding India, who still is pretty poor those countries were already included in my list of developed nations. Even though China/India/SE Asia (excluding the Asian Tigers who are already there) will probably be rich enough to buy software in 20-30 years from now they aren't at that point yet. And by that point Microsoft will have released 6-10 new versions of Windows, and Apple will have released 12-15 versions of OS X.

Although the countries I have mentioned probably control 70% (maybe 80%) of the worlds computer hardware sales as some of the regions (such as Asia Pacific) are poorly defined in terms of the wealth of its members its difficult to know for sure. So your argument that most of the developed world doesn't care that much about Apple is still fairly reasonable. However Apple isn't trying particularly hard in most countries outside the US as except for the UK they don't have lots of Apple Stores, and an extensive iTunes music store.

However in the next 5 years the list I mentioned before is still relevant. There is also no reason that in that time Apple can't have a similar Apple Store coverage in those countries as they have in the US at the moment, so there is no reason they can't have a 10-15% market share easily in the developed world.

 

[Ubuntu]

After reading the posts here, one can only wonder how it would be if the survey produced the opposite results. No doubt you'd all be saying it was 'only a survey', etc.

But then I guess the Microsoft fanboys are saying the same about this.

Regardless, I prefer macs. I still think Apple is treading on thin ice. Everyday it feels like they are becoming more like Microsoft themselves.

 

[pilotError]

Thank You Vista!

Without you, I wouldnt have just bought my Mini mac and my Macbook Pro ( and two wireless mice, wireless keyboard, Airport express, Airport Extreme, Booq cover, Laptop backpack for MBP). All in the last month. Thank you very much!! (and I mean it).


If it wasnt for my Autocad and Microstation programs (cadd software), I would get rid of the PC all together.

Microsoft really shot themselves in the foot with the whole Windows Genuine Advantage thing. They ended up screwing with the legit customers while the pirates kept right on going.

There's so many other reasons, like having to reinstall everything every once in a while, crapware and the list goes on and on.

I personally got tired of their BS. I too was a Mac basher for many years, but the switch to Intel and a BSD core were my main motivations for trying it out. I now own 3 Mac's, 2 iPhone, a number of iPods and the I'll soon be MS free...

I see Apple making big inroads in the consumer market, but the Corporate market is nowhere near ready for Apple.

 

[Digitalclips]

I've been in IT for 15 years. Was always bashing MAC. Then my son started using one in school [6th Grade]. He said we should get one. I looked at them several times. Waited and waited, and finally said what the h#ll. I LOVE IT. Got the 20" iMac w/3GB RAM. Already looking at either the 15.4 MacBook Pro, or Air.

I have to use a PC at work, but when I get home I love powering up my Mac!!!

Congratulations and welcome. You are the perfect sort of person to communicate with all those other IT types who stick to their guns claiming PCs and MS are the serious systems and Macs are toys. Tell your story loud and clear from the top of every hill

 

[gnasher729]

My wife wanted a laptop in November but wanted to stick with Windows because that was what she was used to. I explained that if we got a new pc, then it would come with Vista and that was totally different to XP. I convinced her that it was time to try OSX.

In my experience, a person who is used to Windows XP will find it much easier to use MacOS X than to use Windows Vista. For an XP user, MacOS X is different, but everything is obvious. Vista is just different.

 

[Digitalclips]

MSFT has a loooong way to fall. Apple has a long way to rise. MSFT will reinvent itself no doubt. Apple will flourish still

I agree about Apple but not about MS. It will be interesting to look back in 10 years or so to see what happened. I truly wonder of MS will recover from the slide. Many mighty companies vanished very quickly like the dinosaurs of the years for one reason or another. The argument that there are so many Windows users they can't vanish is flawed. Look how many users of records and record players there were, then cassettes. Yet in a short time CDs took over we are seeing the same with video players and tapes. DVDs may well be on the way out too.

Entire product lines can vanish in a few years no matter how many millions of them are out there and a PC with Windows maybe more vulnerable than most. At least my record player and cassette players still work decades later. Many new PCs are purchased rather than trying to fix a current one, not a good longevity model!

Billy boy may have 'retired' so as not to be there for the demise

 

[gnasher729]

truth to be told, since when Microsoft has been a prominent "brand"?

MSFT isn't working the same path as apple, they don't do "microsoft" brand, you get zune, you get xbox, you get windows, those are all brands.

To compare "microsoft" and "apple", IMHO, is pointless.

And some people need to stop locking themselves in a tiny apple box.

Microsoft has more a reputation for killing competition by any means possible, legal or illegal. They have recently been ordered to pay a several hundred million Euro fine for refusing to publish their server interfaces for three years after being ordered to do so by a court.

Their latest deed was undermining the International Standards Organization and destroying its reputation by forcing them to accept a six thousand page document, thrown together by copying help files from Office applications, with thousands of glaring errors, as an international standard.

To me, Microsoft is a brand, and the worst kind that there is.

 

[BongoBanger]

To me, Microsoft is a brand, and the worst kind that there is.

Microsoft's corporate activities are no worse than Apple's. Both are multi-billion dollar corporations, they don't play nice which is why they're where they are.

I agree about Apple but not about MS. It will be interesting to look back in 10 years or so to see what happened. I truly wonder of MS will recover from the slide.

Sorry, what 'slide' are we talking about? It's true that some marketshare has been lost but they're still utterly dominant in the personal and corporate industries.

 

[Eraserhead]

Microsoft's corporate activities are no worse than Apple's. Both are multi-billion dollar corporations, they don't play nice which is why they're where they are.

Come on, don't be so disingenuous gnasher729's point is good. If the OpenXML specification is full of errors, it shouldn't have become a standard, the same would apply to one from Apple.

Sorry, what 'slide' are we talking about? It's true that some marketshare has been lost but they're still utterly dominant in the personal and corporate industries.

That Internet Explorer is crap, that for consumers/users Vista is barely better than XP.

 

[Digitalclips]

Sorry, what 'slide' are we talking about? It's true that some marketshare has been lost but they're still utterly dominant in the personal and corporate industries.

In fact I was quoting a previous thread by using 'slide' and the point of my comment was about what has happened to other mega corporations, who no doubt thought they were 'slide' proof.

I guess a company with near 100% coverage a while back allowing another company to come from nowhere to the position Apple is now in just a few years might be seen as a 'slide'. Remember every single Mac owner could have could have bought a PC.

I suppose if don't like me saying MS is on a 'slide', even though it is all from the same pool of potential sales, we could just refer to this as a 'climb' for Apple.

 

[Eraserhead]

^^ Its not just Apple, Mozilla (Firefox) has done the same.

 

[BongoBanger]

Come on, don't be so disingenuous gnasher729's point is good.

It is. So is mine. Nothing disingenuous about it.

If the OpenXML specification is full of errors, it shouldn't have become a standard, the same would apply to one from Apple.

But it did. 'Full of errors' is also a bit of an exaggeration.

We could argue back and forth about errors and faults in OS and apps but it's not going to get us anywhere.

That Internet Explorer is crap, that for consumers/users Vista is barely better than XP.

But both are perfectly adequate - saying IE is 'crap' is just plain wrong. Software doesn't have to be world beating, it just has to do what most people want and they both do.

To suggest that MS are on a 'slide' because they're products are adequate rather than exceptional is wrong because they suit the vast majority of people's needs. MS will lose market share but they will still dominate because of market entrenchment.

 

[tmelvin]

Congratulations and welcome. You are the perfect sort of person to communicate with all those other IT types who stick to their guns claiming PCs and MS are the serious systems and Macs are toys. Tell your story loud and clear from the top of every hill

I already have. I started chatting about future IT plans with our CIO, and suggested we begin looking at MAC laptops vs. HP. It's a little easier here, because I deal with physicians, and they love them too...