After reading the thread in the mac help forum on Ballmer's MS stock transactions I looked up Apple's most recent 10-Q submission to the SEC. I found these two interesting self-assements:
"The Company's ability to produce and market competitive products is also dependent on the ability and desire of IBM and Motorola, the sole suppliers of the PowerPC RISC-based microprocessor for the Company's Macintosh computers, to provide the Company with a sufficient supply of microprocessors with price/performance features that compare favorably to those supplied to the Company's competitors by Intel Corporation and other developers and producers of microprocessors used by personal computers using the Windows operating systems. Further, despite its efforts to educate the marketplace to the contrary, the Company believes that many of its current and potential customers believe that the relatively slower MHz rating or clock speed of the microprocessors it utilizes in its Macintosh systems compares unfavorably to those utilized by Windows-based systems and translates to slower overall system performance. There have been instances in recent years where the inability of the Company's suppliers to provide advanced PowerPC G4 and G3 microprocessors with higher clock speeds in sufficient quantity has had significant adverse effects on the company's results of operations. The inability in the future of the Company to obtain microprocessors in sufficient quantities with competitive price/performance features could have an adverse impact on the Company's results of operations and financial condition."
and..
"Unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fell 18% during 2002 as compared to 2001 and fell 35% in 2001 from 2000. Power Macintosh unit sales have fallen as a percentage of total Macintosh unit sales from 38% in 1999 to 25% in 2002 and 22% during the first six months of fiscal 2003. The Company believes that weak economic conditions over the past several years are having a pronounced negative impact on its professional and creative customers who are the primary users of such systems. The Company also believes that many of these customers continue to delay upgrades of their Power Macintosh systems due to the Company's ongoing transition to Mac OS X and in anticipation of certain software vendors transitioning their professionally oriented Macintosh software applications to run natively in Mac OS X. Also, it is likely that many of the Company's current and potential customers, particularly professional and creative customers who are most likely to utilize the Company's Power Macintosh systems, believe that the relatively slower MHz rating or clock speed of the microprocessors it utilizes in its Macintosh systems compares unfavorably to those utilized by Windows-based systems and translates to slower overall system performance. In addition to the negative impact on net sales, declining sales of Power Macintosh systems also have a negative effect on the Company's overall gross margin because Power Macintosh systems generally have higher individual gross margins than the Company's other Macintosh systems. Continued deterioration in Power Macintosh unit sales will adversely affect the Company's future net sales and gross margin. If future unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fail to partially or fully recover,
it will be difficult for the Company to improve its overall profitability."
Duh!
"The Company's ability to produce and market competitive products is also dependent on the ability and desire of IBM and Motorola, the sole suppliers of the PowerPC RISC-based microprocessor for the Company's Macintosh computers, to provide the Company with a sufficient supply of microprocessors with price/performance features that compare favorably to those supplied to the Company's competitors by Intel Corporation and other developers and producers of microprocessors used by personal computers using the Windows operating systems. Further, despite its efforts to educate the marketplace to the contrary, the Company believes that many of its current and potential customers believe that the relatively slower MHz rating or clock speed of the microprocessors it utilizes in its Macintosh systems compares unfavorably to those utilized by Windows-based systems and translates to slower overall system performance. There have been instances in recent years where the inability of the Company's suppliers to provide advanced PowerPC G4 and G3 microprocessors with higher clock speeds in sufficient quantity has had significant adverse effects on the company's results of operations. The inability in the future of the Company to obtain microprocessors in sufficient quantities with competitive price/performance features could have an adverse impact on the Company's results of operations and financial condition."
and..
"Unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fell 18% during 2002 as compared to 2001 and fell 35% in 2001 from 2000. Power Macintosh unit sales have fallen as a percentage of total Macintosh unit sales from 38% in 1999 to 25% in 2002 and 22% during the first six months of fiscal 2003. The Company believes that weak economic conditions over the past several years are having a pronounced negative impact on its professional and creative customers who are the primary users of such systems. The Company also believes that many of these customers continue to delay upgrades of their Power Macintosh systems due to the Company's ongoing transition to Mac OS X and in anticipation of certain software vendors transitioning their professionally oriented Macintosh software applications to run natively in Mac OS X. Also, it is likely that many of the Company's current and potential customers, particularly professional and creative customers who are most likely to utilize the Company's Power Macintosh systems, believe that the relatively slower MHz rating or clock speed of the microprocessors it utilizes in its Macintosh systems compares unfavorably to those utilized by Windows-based systems and translates to slower overall system performance. In addition to the negative impact on net sales, declining sales of Power Macintosh systems also have a negative effect on the Company's overall gross margin because Power Macintosh systems generally have higher individual gross margins than the Company's other Macintosh systems. Continued deterioration in Power Macintosh unit sales will adversely affect the Company's future net sales and gross margin. If future unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fail to partially or fully recover,
it will be difficult for the Company to improve its overall profitability."
Duh!
