*warning* Highly subjective opinion:
Is it me, or is Apple news this period just depressing?
Apple is doing fine, Macs, iPhones and iPads are still better than the competition overall, and the company has enough money to declare itself an independent state. But it really feels the post-Jobs era is starting to show.
Where are the new stuff that the rest of the industry typically copies? Be it technologies, interfaces, or industrial design. It's the first time a new OSX came out and I just can't even be bothered installing it. Plus it looks kinda meh. The new iPhone is probably the ugliest device of the last decade, and the iPad has almost a desktop level CPU, but still cant handle chatting and browsing at the same time.
Maybe this is a very personal disillusionment here, but I used to be the 100% fanboy, and gradually, for the past 2-3 years, I simply don't care what's coming out of Cupertino. All the news are about lawsuits, more vendor lock-in, crippling bugs, soulless marketing, and.. a fat watch to have annoying marketing notifications on your wrist.
I mean, I get it. When you are on the top of your game, why bother innovate and risk. Just focus on fashion and brand, and let someone else do the geeky stuff.
Still, it looks to me that Apple has focused so much on the super-high-profit-margin tip of the market, that at some point the only competing advantage that is left is the brand. I used to believe everyone should buy a Mac, because it was technology at it's best, how computing is supposed to be experienced. But today? Not so much anymore.
The competition is moving fast, and we're reaching the point where the question "Why should I pay way more to get that Mac/iPhone/iPad again?" doesn't have a very substantial answer.
The abnormal thing is a 40 (30, 50s... you know) years old man freaking out because a new OS is released, not the contrary.
As usual the real story is not market share, but unit growth. By that measure Apple did not keep up with the growth of the overall PC market, at least according to Gartner. So a more accurate headline would be, "Apple Loses Some Mac Sales Momentum in Holiday Quarter," since that is what actually happened.
Only on macrumors does losing market share mean maintaining momentum.
No! SusanK carefully surveyed her neighborhood, friends and workplace and only then carefully tabulated the results.
Are there still businesses upgrading from XP to Windows 7 or is that mostly complete now?
I have had a Mac since 1989, but I am beginning to doubt my next will be one. I do not like sealed desktops that will not let me upgrade. I thought I was going to get a mini until it came in with such poor specs and soldered RAM. If only Apple would make a prosumer model.
A PC comprises a tower (or pizza box), a separate screen, and a keyboard. And slots for expandability.
Laptops, notebooks, and (heavens, no!) sub-notebooks barely qualify as computing devices. They are certainly not REAL PCs.
*warning* Highly subjective opinion:
Is it me, or is Apple news this period just depressing?
Apple is doing fine, Macs, iPhones and iPads are still better than the competition overall, and the company has enough money to declare itself an independent state. But it really feels the post-Jobs era is starting to show.
Where are the new stuff that the rest of the industry typically copies? Be it technologies, interfaces, or industrial design. It's the first time a new OSX came out and I just can't even be bothered installing it. Plus it looks kinda meh. The new iPhone is probably the ugliest device of the last decade, and the iPad has almost a desktop level CPU, but still cant handle chatting and browsing at the same time.
Maybe this is a very personal disillusionment here, but I used to be the 100% fanboy, and gradually, for the past 2-3 years, I simply don't care what's coming out of Cupertino. All the news are about lawsuits, more vendor lock-in, crippling bugs, soulless marketing, and.. a fat watch to have annoying marketing notifications on your wrist.
I mean, I get it. When you are on the top of your game, why bother innovate and risk. Just focus on fashion and brand, and let someone else do the geeky stuff.
Still, it looks to me that Apple has focused so much on the super-high-profit-margin tip of the market, that at some point the only competing advantage that is left is the brand. I used to believe everyone should buy a Mac, because it was technology at it's best, how computing is supposed to be experienced. But today? Not so much anymore.
The competition is moving fast, and we're reaching the point where the question "Why should I pay way more to get that Mac/iPhone/iPad again?" doesn't have a very substantial answer.
A PC comprises a tower (or pizza box), a separate screen, and a keyboard. And slots for expandability.
Laptops, notebooks, and (heavens, no!) sub-notebooks barely qualify as computing devices. They are certainly not REAL PCs.
At least, that's how the argument went several years ago, and I'm not aware of any officially recognized body that gone through the proper channels to obtain clear definitions agreed on by the Userazzi to adjust those obvious (to anyone who isn't completely wrong) definitions of what is a PC and what is not.
It is just you. In the last quarter.
Apple Pay. Legitimately better buying experience every time you use it. Relies on two unique Apple hardware features, touch ID and secure enclave chip. Might be very hard to duplicate.
iMac Retina 5K. Better screen than can currently be purchased separately, but sold at same price as the top of the line 4K standalone monitors. But comes with top of the line PC components built into very thin frame.
In the prior quarter.
Swift. New programming language to upgrade tools for largest OS developer community. I believe there is currently no such thing as a programmer who does not, on some level, want to program for iOS. Upgrading the tools for this market was huge.
In current quarter.
Apple Watch. Wearable that will outsell in its first year all other wearables ever sold combined. Will take over the high end watch market and might put an entire industry out of business. (Which will be sad by the way.)
Market Share doesn't make much sense here.
There are two parts of the PC market. One, purchases by companies for their employees. Two, purchases by consumers for their personal home use.
Just because in both cases a PC is sold doesn't mean there is any reason to combine the markets.
Think about what the PC does after it is sold. My work PC gets Office loaded onto it, a PDF program (Adobe or, in my case a cheaper program called Nitro), a few browsers (only because I'm the exception and I care enough to not want to use Explorer), and that is it basically. It is done. It will never have another program loaded onto it. I will use it for two or three years and it will be replaced. Or if I break it, it will be replaced (which, incidentally is why I have a new computer, I dropped my last one). Aside from Microsoft, that PC does not exist for the purposes of any other programmer or computer company.
My Mac at home. Well I won't buy Office for it. But I will regularly buy various cheaper programs for it. I will buy attachments. I will buy games. I did buy Windows so I could Bootcamp, but pretty much only for gaming.
These are completely different markets in my mind. In my own, somewhat rarified, experiences I've seen this. I think most of my friends uses a PC at work. In the last ten years, among the friends that I have, I know one person who has bought a PC instead of a Mac for their own use. Among that group I can think of dozens of friends who are using Macs. While I'm an outlier and have a set of friends who are well to do and more into Macs, I think this is what is going on. This has to terrify the PC community.
So did the business community suddenly have a need to drop XP or did they have money in their budget? Is that what happened? Because as far as I can tell, no one is buying a Mac for business outside of programming and design shops. And no one is buying a PC for home use, outside of hardcore gamers. So why should the sales of each move in lock step? There is no computer market. There are two markets. Work market and home market. They aren't connected.
As usual the real story is not market share, but unit growth. By that measure Apple did not keep up with the growth of the overall PC market, at least according to Gartner. So a more accurate headline would be, "Apple Loses Some Mac Sales Momentum in Holiday Quarter," since that is what actually happened.
Did you actually read the fact they counted 150 dollar tablets as PC's.... Tha'Ts the difference.
Almost hate to say it, but I sort of agree with Aenaon. The things you mentioned are about as exciting as watching paint dry. Like Aenaon, mine is just an opinion. I'm sure others will see things differently. Apple had a chance to get a nice piece of my 2014 disposable income. It came away with an iP6 for my daughter.
Unrelated peeve: iMacs are not thin. They have a thin edge. They have just as much depth as any other AIO. Again, my opinion.
----------
You're neglecting the fact that this report is simply about PC sales, not consumer or business motivation. Personal anecdotes are about as useful as boobs on a bull in analysis such as this. They add no value. That's not a criticism of your anecdote. It's all personal anecdotes. For every one similar to yours there's an equal an opposite one.
Unrelated: Not an Urban Meyer fan and even with 4 dang turnovers, Oregon is still sucking.
Did you actually read any of my posts?
I have had a Mac since 1989, but I am beginning to doubt my next will be one. I do not like sealed desktops that will not let me upgrade. I thought I was going to get a mini until it came in with such poor specs and soldered RAM. If only Apple would make a prosumer model.
Did you actually read the fact they counted 150 dollar tablets as PC's.... Tha'Ts the difference.
Are those tablets running full Windows?
The PC side is making up for a bad 2013. Or consumers are getting tired of tablets and want computers.
Market Share doesn't make much sense here.
There are two parts of the PC market. One, purchases by companies for their employees. Two, purchases by consumers for their personal home use.
Just because in both cases a PC is sold doesn't mean there is any reason to combine the markets.
Think about what the PC does after it is sold. My work PC gets Office loaded onto it, a PDF program (Adobe or, in my case a cheaper program called Nitro), a few browsers (only because I'm the exception and I care enough to not want to use Explorer), and that is it basically. It is done. It will never have another program loaded onto it. I will use it for two or three years and it will be replaced. Or if I break it, it will be replaced (which, incidentally is why I have a new computer, I dropped my last one). Aside from Microsoft, that PC does not exist for the purposes of any other programmer or computer company.
My Mac at home. Well I won't buy Office for it. But I will regularly buy various cheaper programs for it. I will buy attachments. I will buy games. I did buy Windows so I could Bootcamp, but pretty much only for gaming.
These are completely different markets in my mind. In my own, somewhat rarified, experiences I've seen this. I think most of my friends uses a PC at work. In the last ten years, among the friends that I have, I know one person who has bought a PC instead of a Mac for their own use. Among that group I can think of dozens of friends who are using Macs. While I'm an outlier and have a set of friends who are well to do and more into Macs, I think this is what is going on. This has to terrify the PC community.
So did the business community suddenly have a need to drop XP or did they have money in their budget? Is that what happened? Because as far as I can tell, no one is buying a Mac for business outside of programming and design shops. And no one is buying a PC for home use, outside of hardcore gamers. So why should the sales of each move in lock step? There is no computer market. There are two markets. Work market and home market. They aren't connected.
Not the Mac Mini. No slots, so it's not a real PC.Whaaaa? AFAIK that's argument hasn't been true for more than a couple of decades. PC's come in lots of formats. There are AIO's, NUC's, and Pi's that are PC's that don't fit your seriously narrow definition. Heck, Going by your definition Apple would have only sold Mac Pros and Mac minis; no iMacs, MBA's, or MBP's.![]()
*warning* Highly subjective opinion:
Is it me, or is Apple news this period just depressing?
Apple is doing fine, Macs, iPhones and iPads are still better than the competition overall, and the company has enough money to declare itself an independent state. But it really feels the post-Jobs era is starting to show.
Where are the new stuff that the rest of the industry typically copies? Be it technologies, interfaces, or industrial design. It's the first time a new OSX came out and I just can't even be bothered installing it. Plus it looks kinda meh. The new iPhone is probably the ugliest device of the last decade, and the iPad has almost a desktop level CPU, but still cant handle chatting and browsing at the same time.
Maybe this is a very personal disillusionment here, but I used to be the 100% fanboy, and gradually, for the past 2-3 years, I simply don't care what's coming out of Cupertino. All the news are about lawsuits, more vendor lock-in, crippling bugs, soulless marketing, and.. a fat watch to have annoying marketing notifications on your wrist.
I mean, I get it. When you are on the top of your game, why bother innovate and risk. Just focus on fashion and brand, and let someone else do the geeky stuff.
Still, it looks to me that Apple has focused so much on the super-high-profit-margin tip of the market, that at some point the only competing advantage that is left is the brand. I used to believe everyone should buy a Mac, because it was technology at it's best, how computing is supposed to be experienced. But today? Not so much anymore.
The competition is moving fast, and we're reaching the point where the question "Why should I pay way more to get that Mac/iPhone/iPad again?" doesn't have a very substantial answer.