Apple's Record Mac Quarter 'Almost Unbelievable' in Face of iPad Cannibalization

[Kurfer]

I almost feel between the lines, Cook was saying...

"Ugh, why are Macs selling???!!! The plan was to discontinue the Mac Pro, then the iMac, then gimp the MBP to an Air like machine."

Hopefully the #'s breakdown are the 13' MBP doing really well, and the iMacs. The 15' 17' Pro should be 1299 and 1799 currently unless they want to throw SSD's in them. Starting at 256GB. iMacs still are priced fine IMO. Mac Pros should be collecting dust. 1799 tops currently, Apple is too good for price drops.

I got a spare win7 machine built back up since I am scared sh**less of Apple's final solution. 1080p rendering/ Heavy Photoshop/Maya work on an iPad anytime in the next decade?? No thanks.

Seriously why are they shocked? Knowing full well the price is high? Or are they all brainwashed into teh iPad is teh futurz. Which has to evolve back into a laptop basically anyway.

From a business standpoint I can understand why Apple wants to go away from the PC market.

Think about it, they are competing with an industry that has been set in stone for over 20 years. There really isn't anything innovative that can come from the PC market that can completely change the game.

Rather than compete in the market they would rather move away in their own direction. While Apple created the PC market, Microsoft really ran away with it and seems dedicated to it. It's a perfect opportunity for Apple to strike as the world is looking for new and exciting gadgets. PC's while still really useful are a commodity now a days. The market for a Rolls Royce PC is just not attractive to consumers and Apple will never compete in the "low price market".

Remember what put Apple back on the map, it wasn't the imac...it was the ipod.

 

[9secondadidas]

I'm glad to see Macs are doing well. I wanna be a fly on the wall if Bill Gates ever reads this post. lol

You really think he would care? At all? If anything he's probably impressed that the dying company he helped save back in 1997 has actually thrived and is doing well in an industry where so many others are faltering.

Hell wasn't it Jobs himself that said for Apple to Win MS no longer has to lose? Or something? I'd look it up but food just got here.

 

[montycat]

Nice to some Mac news.

 

[Hrududu]

While you were doing that Microsoft was busy improving Windows, Office etc and now offers the best software that it ever has. Windows 7 is rock sold (I'd say more reliable and less buggy than Lion) and Office is simply unmatched.

Naturally Windows 7 is going to be more stable than Lion at this point. Windows 7 is as old as Snow Leopard.
:employees:

 

[BaldiMac]

what this proves to me is the iPad is not a computer and does not belong in those comparisons.
It is clearly not cannibalizing that market.

Good one! Apple acknowledges some cannibalization of Macs by the iPad. Gartner attributes the weak growth in the PC market to media tablets (among other things) after a complete market analysis, but you feel that you have completely disproved that based solely on record Mac sales.

 

[scottsjack]

While you were doing that Microsoft was busy improving Windows, Office etc and now offers the best software that it ever has. Windows 7 is rock sold (I'd say more reliable and less buggy than Lion) and Office is simply unmatched.

True, Office 2010 on W7 is far nicer to use than Office 2011 on a Mac. But like my other post pointed out was that it's the other consumer software that really matters, like what you use to iChat with mom at Starbucks. That's the stuff that sells computers.

(Note that most of the nice things that I say about Mac apply to Snow Leopard, not Lion)

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Good one! Apple acknowledges some cannibalization of Macs by the iPad. Gartner attributes the weak growth in the PC market to media tablets (among other things) after a complete market analysis, but you feel that you have completely disproved that based solely on record Mac sales.

I believe I said in the past iPad never belonged in pc sells number much to the disagreement of people like LTD. They are very different markets.

 

[nutjob]

And a huge portion of business data can be entered and edited just as fast, if not faster in some cases, with a Bluetooth keyboard and an iPad.

Sure, there are a few specialist who can fully use a dual 27" monitor setup (traders, developers, artists, etc.), but that's a tiny fraction of the total office work population.

Only two problems with that theory:

- a finger is not anywhere near as accurate as a mouse. Try editing technical drawings, or any drawings with your finger.

- the iPad doesn't have any of the software required. Lots of games and media/web apps, no software commonly used for actual work

Also if the iPad is so good, why do you have to add things too it for it to be useful?

 

[cfedu]

From a business standpoint I can understand why Apple wants to go away from the PC market.

Think about it, they are competing with an industry that has been set in stone for over 20 years. There really isn't anything innovative that can come from the PC market that can completely change the game.

Rather than compete in the market they would rather move away in their own direction. While Apple created the PC market, Microsoft really ran away with it and seems dedicated to it. It's a perfect opportunity for Apple to strike as the world is looking for new and exciting gadgets. PC's while still really useful are a commodity now a days. The market for a Rolls Royce PC is just not attractive to consumers and Apple will never compete in the "low price market".

Remember what put Apple back on the map, it wasn't the imac...it was the ipod.

Does Rolls Royce have even 1% of the car market? O.01%?

A Rolls Royce cost 20 times the cost of an average GM or foreign car.

Last I checked a MacBook air is priced the same as other ultra portables, using a rolls Royce analogy would make a netbook cost 50$ at best buy

 

[Clamdigger63]

1984

Winston Smith sat at his desk in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth.
A rolled newspaper article appeared in the slot by his desk. He removed the paper from the hole and carefully unwrapped the article and gazed at the headline and accompaining text.

Apple blames iPhone rumors for disappointing results
Rare disappointment, shares dive
CFO blames rumors of new iPhone, customers wait
He thought for a moment and then crossed out the text with a thick black pencil again and again. He picked up the microphone and pressed the button on the machine and said in a slow precise tone.

"Apple's Record Mac Quarter 'Almost Unbelievable' in Face of iPad Cannibalization"

 

[cfedu]

I believe I said in the past iPad never belonged in pc sells number much to the disagreement of people like LTD. They are very different markets.

They are different markets at the extreme ends, but for a lot of users they overlap. For general Facebook/ email users, an iPad is a computer.

For myself I use my iPad 95% of the time. I don't think the iPad will ever completely replace a computer for heavy users.

An iPad with a desktop docking station with a keyboard ,mouse and multi displays will replace computers. But in this case we are really back to just a computer not using x86

 

[Hyper-X]

There are plenty of things one can do on an iPad. Some people's jobs are research where they are reading most of the time and taking notes, others are coming up with ideas and interacting with others through conferencing. Scheduling and making appointments. Many people have to do work on the run, and if it doesn't involve extensive typing, you can do that kind of work on an iPad very well.

In fact, if it's not manual labor, I'd say that most real work is going on in someone's head while they study something visual or listen to something or are in a discussion with someone while studying a source of information presented to them. The iPad can be at the center of that in many, many cases.

Certainly not all cases. And presently, probably not most cases. But you are saying no cases. I don't buy it.

Just sayin'.

The opposite could be said as well, there's many things the iPad (not any other tablet) can do either. It's just a convenient device that offers benefits where a traditional computer (laptop) is not needed or wanted.

 

[*LTD*]

I believe I said in the past iPad never belonged in pc sells number much to the disagreement of people like LTD. They are very different markets.

Major tech research firms like Gartner and Canalys (on whom we depend for tracking market share, etc.) have begun to include the iPad in PC market share numbers.

Now what are you going to do?

 

[PJMAN2952]

I'm glad to see Macs are doing well. I wanna be a fly on the wall if Bill Gates ever reads this post. lol

Bill Gates retired. Steve Ballmer is the CEO of Microsoft now.

----------

Naturally Windows 7 is going to be more stable than Lion at this point. Windows 7 is as old as Snow Leopard.
:employees:

Ya but Mac OS X Lion is new (I have it on my MacBook Pro). It is a bit buggy but with all the updates it will be more stable later on.

 

[BaldiMac]

I believe I said in the past iPad never belonged in pc sells number much to the disagreement of people like LTD. They are very different markets.

Who cares what you said in the past? I commented on your post in this thread.

How are the markets "very different"? Seems to me that an iPad fits right in at the low end of the portable PC market. It seems to have completely destroyed netbook sales. And it will continue to make up the more advanced feature differential over time. You underestimate the number of people that buy a computer simply to surf the web, email, Facebook, and consume media. All things that an iPad is capable of doing well.

 

[G4er?]

So cannibalization not a problem. Good! Now build the XMac for crying out loud!!! Since I'll never buy an all in one making a mid size mid range Mac would be a good thing.

 

[DrDomVonDoom]

I'll agree that W7 is awesome and while not as easy to configure as the simpler OS X it's still pretty easy. Additionally there are some things about W7's UI that are to me better than the way Mac does it.

The problem with Windows, and it's a really, really big problem, is usable software. There is simply nothing available for a Windows computer that even barely compares to the ease of use, beautiful look and total system integration that Mail, iTunes, iCal/iPhoto, Address Book and iMovie give. If you just want to be able to turn on a computer, upload some photos and then email them to friends the Mac system is the best way to go.

Compared to the Mac the Windows Live suite of applications is just a sad, weak joke. Microsoft doesn't get the fact that it's the usable software that sells a computer system, not the OS. The iPhone 4s proves that all over again.

THIS.

One of the reasons I love the Mac platform is that the software is much better. Not specifically Apple made software, but third party developers as well. They generally take eir time to make well coded, well working software that usually you can only find on the Mac platform, when they do port a windows version it's usually clunky feeling, buggier and overall not the same experience. Maybe it is that it's windows and just the experience of using a windows machine kills it after years of struggling as a windows user. Good example is Ripit good quality software, it rips DVDs in their VOD format, one button and it's working. Handbrake is more complicated, and more manageable with more customizations but still manages clear cut options. I feel like finding good windows software is a challenge, it's either lost support of the developers far back, is filled with spyware or malware. Maybe this is a problem that rests solely on the market leader, or just different platform users have different mindsets.

Maybe this is just me, but does anyone else feel windows software is generally over priced as well? I know there is different tiers of software obviously suites of professional tools are hundreds to thousands of dollars, I'm talking about software most of us would use?

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Major tech research firms like Gartner and Canalys (on whom we depend for tracking market share, etc.) have begun to include the iPad in PC market share numbers.

Now what are you going to do?

And I know I called it crap then and I still call it crap. All they did was devalue what they are worth to so Apple Fanboys can scream how great Apple is and to get head line post. I know I was not the only one who called it crap then.

They want to make head lines so company buy the more detailed break down and what better way to do it but screw it up and put Apple there.

iPad is a mobile OS and can not do even 1/2 the stuff a netbook can do much less a full powered computer. A lot of the cross over stuff is a hack job at best in how it works.

 

[Royalcards]

im one of the those 4million + who bought their new shiny macboook air.

 

[thewitt]

While you were doing that Microsoft was busy improving Windows, Office etc and now offers the best software that it ever has. Windows 7 is rock sold (I'd say more reliable and less buggy than Lion) and Office is simply unmatched.

Windows 7 is rock solid? What universe do you live in? We are still wasting thousands of IT hours every year supporting Windows with its inability to run without driver conflicts, system crashes, blue screens, weekly reboots. So painful....but we are still slaves....for now

 

[jjlannoo]

I'm seriously considering replacing my only computer (a notebook) with a iPad. I do zero work with my computer. I only use it for web and email.

 

[carmenodie]

Anyone who needs to do a decent amount of work of any sort can't do it on an iPad. People who don't do a decent amount of work don't need a computer. Basically the iPad is the computer for the idle rich. It's an entertainment device or a toy like the iPod (of which it's just a bigger version), which is fine, but that means it won't be making that deep an inroad into the laptop/desktop markets.

Your name speaks for itself!

 

[carmenodie]

I think iWork being released for iOS, and the fact that you can use Apple's bluetooth keyboard with it greatly increases the iPad's ability to do more "work" related things. But I do agree, I think it's unnecessary to get a 500 dollar iPad when you can just as easily buy a normal computer that was built for doing work.

Ha ha! The ipad takes the basics of what average folks traditionally did on a computer and made it as easy as pie. The average person never did REAL WORK on a pc. The pc for the average person is a gimmick. And the pc makers know that Apple has changed the game. So you can continue trying to sell the whole REAL WORK NARRATIVE but the game changer has arrived.

 

[kevin2i]

What? Isn't the 'worst Mac OS release yet' hindering sales?

Yes, just like the 'worst iphone upgrade' really bombed too. Poor Apple just doesn't know what they are doing.

 

[nutjob]

Some people will post anything and everything, no matter how outlandish, in order to avoid admitting to a reality that they find decidedly uncomfortable.

So besides your irrelevant ad-hominem attack, what are you actually talking about? What's the uncomfortable reality I'm trying to avoid. It's rather ironic that you post a personal attack rather than addressing my point. Is it because you have no answer to it? You try to attack me personally because I'm right?