How will you react to Apple releasing Mac OS X for PCs?

[toke lahti]

I'd also like to hear your opinion of how the Apple retail stores will work under your prediction. Apple is currently undergoing very fast expansion of the number of their retail stores they have...for example, I think there are something like 7 stores in Sydney alone (where I live) and nearly 400 worldwide.

A lot of the Apple stores around the world have been secured on long term leases, occupying very large spaces in very expensive prime locations.

Let's say your prediction is true, Apple drops all Mac products within 5 years. Imagine those very large Apple stores, now minus the large amount of space required for the Mac displays, take away the shelves of software and the shelves of peripherals. Remove half of the staff and some of the genius bars.

So, I walk into one of these large stores in 5 years time, which cost Apple a bundle to secure leases for, setup and maintain. But now the place is either 2/3rds empty, with a few display tables for the iPhones and iPads, or else they what?? Just put wall-to-wall iPhone and iPad displays?

Or do they just close them down after having spent millions setting them up?

I am actually curious to know how the retail stores will work under your prediction....

I didn't say they are ditching laptops, I said osX-laptops.
Why iOS-laptops?
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15364182/
:"They'd have higher walls of their garden with iOS laptops..."
It would also be much more "easier" and "simplier" to Apple's customers when all products use same dumbed down os.
Also cheaper to give support to only one os.
Meaning tighter control and bigger profits for Apple.

 

[Alameda]

Apple would need to sell an awful lot of $50 OS X licences via retailers/distributors to make as much as they do from selling one $2000 computer + accessories/upgrades + AppleCare through their own retail chain.

Most Macs sell for about $1,300. They'd have to sell 26 software licenses for each Mac. But the margin of an OSX license is nearly 100%, whereas hardware margins even for Apple are less than 50%, so the $1,300 of revenue is less than $650 of profit, which would take 13 or fewer Mac software licenses.

I don't think Apple would need to write many device drivers. As with Microsoft, the hardware developers would have to write their own drivers, and pay Apple to certify them. But what Apple would likely need to do is develop more enterprise- centric software. They have the mo ey to muscle into the market, but I don't know if enterprises would be willing to switch to OSX.