OMG! IBM, Acer, Fujitsu and Gateway are on the verge of going bust

[ChrisH3677]

Just read the latest marketshare figures and it looks like IBM, Acer, Fujitsu and Gateway are doomed. Sell your stocks while you can!

Why? Coz their marketshares (from 3.2% to 5.6%, either US or worldwide) aren't all that different to Apple's - and everyone knows Apple's marketshare (3.7% in the US) is too small for them to survive.

Oh? Do I sound sarcastic? Oops!

PS Some will argue that in these figures, Apple's marketshare went down... but interestingly, their shipments went up 9.3%. Given the total market increased 10.9%... Apple did well to nearly match it. And they managed to capture 3.3% of that overall increase. So, I'm happy - they're sailing pretty steady.

 

[NusuniAdmin]

Why? Coz their marketshares (from 3.2% to 5.6%, either US or worldwide) aren't all that different to Apple's - and everyone knows Apple's marketshare (3.7% in the US) is too small for them to survive.

hah, apple aint going anywhewre for a while...to be honest i could see apple surviving after microsoft falls

 

[Abstract]

Same here. Apple is like the cockroach of the computer industry .... but a good cockroach that's smart and pretty to look at.

 

[edesignuk]

IBM will never die, can you imagine how much money that must rake in from patents alone? Remember, most computers on the planet are "IBM compatible" .

 

[GulGnu]

Just read the latest marketshare figures and it looks like IBM, Acer, Fujitsu and Gateway are doomed. Sell your stocks while you can!

The reason some us are worried about Apple's maketshare isn't their share of the PC market - it's their share of the OS market that's the problem.

Why? Network effect. The more people that have PC:s, the more profitable it becomes to make software for them. More software = PC:s become more useful = More people buy PC:s, etc.

 

[Solafaa]

Thats just silly. You dont need more then %3 of any market share. Apple dose not sped as much on costs, so all the income they get is not all spent.

When the .com thingy happend did the internet stop working? no. Did all .com lose money? no. There are many companies doing well (eBay.com, amazon.com and many othere).

I dotn fear apple future, they have very loyal customers like me and you, they will do well.

 

[Mac_Max]

IBM will never die, can you imagine how much money that must rake in from patents alone? Remember, most computers on the planet are "IBM compatible" .

IBM makes $0 from the fact that other computers are "IBM compatible." No one uses IBM's technology for x86 systems. They buy Intel chipsets & intel CPUs & use those in their designs. They didn't really make of it in the 80s either since the other major companies were making clones that had no license from IBM. They used 3rd party BIOS chips & bought the same Intel chips as IBM did.

 

[Krizoitz]

The reason some us are worried about Apple's maketshare isn't their share of the PC market - it's their share of the OS market that's the problem.

Why? Network effect. The more people that have PC:s, the more profitable it becomes to make software for them. More software = PC:s become more useful = More people buy PC:s, etc.

Wow that software argument gets old. How many word proccesors do you need. The only market I have come across that you don't find the software on Mac you do on PC's is games, and thats only a problem if you are a hard core gamer, in which case you want a PC anyway.

 

[Artimus]

Market share decreases EVERY year as more and more products are sold...

 

[crazzyeddie]

IBM makes $0 from the fact that other computers are "IBM compatible." No one uses IBM's technology for x86 systems. They buy Intel chipsets & intel CPUs & use those in their designs. They didn't really make of it in the 80s either since the other major companies were making clones that had no license from IBM. They used 3rd party BIOS chips & bought the same Intel chips as IBM did.

Im sorry, but you are seriously misinformed. IBM makes tons of money off of their patents for chip production. Even Intel pays IBM money for techniques they use in making the Pentium 4! IBM makes their own servers which sell very well- Ever heard of the Power series, like what the PPC 970 (aka G5) is based off of? And that same G5 is said to be in the next Xbox and Gamecube. Now, tell me, is IBM going bust? Hell no.

 

[bousozoku]

Im sorry, but you are seriously misinformed. IBM makes tons of money off of their patents for chip production. Even Intel pays IBM money for techniques they use in making the Pentium 4! IBM makes their own servers which sell very well- Ever heard of the Power series, like what the PPC 970 (aka G5) is based off of? And that same G5 is said to be in the next Xbox and Gamecube. Now, tell me, is IBM going bust? Hell no.

IBM really doesn't make much money in the PC business at all. Their money is mostly made in services and big machines--those supporting thousands of users. Their margins in those areas are pretty good.

 

[7on]

Wow that software argument gets old. How many word proccesors do you need. The only market I have come across that you don't find the software on Mac you do on PC's is games, and thats only a problem if you are a hard core gamer, in which case you want a PC anyway.

Not to mention that if there's a demand to be filled, Apple will make the product themselves. IE was cancelled, Apple released Safari. Premiere had major bugs - which obviously wasn't being fixed by Adobe, so Apple released FCE.

Games have never been a high concern with Apple. Dunno why, they're just not.

 

[kanker]

IE was cancelled, Apple released Safari.

Actually, IE was cancelled as a result of Safari, with MS saying that since Apple had developed a proprietary browser that was standards compliant and was a faster browser as a result than any they could make for Mac OS, that they would be dropping IE support. Basically, it was their way of saying that MS shouldn't be blamed (anti-trust) for all of their proprietary crap that hampers developers, SunMicrosystems in particular probably.

 

[edesignuk]

IBM makes $0 from the fact that other computers are "IBM compatible." No one uses IBM's technology for x86 systems. They buy Intel chipsets & intel CPUs & use those in their designs. They didn't really make of it in the 80s either since the other major companies were making clones that had no license from IBM. They used 3rd party BIOS chips & bought the same Intel chips as IBM did.

Really? Wow, I'm amazed, I really thought they'd get something. Oh well...I'll just shutup then

 

[yamabushi]

Not to mention that if there's a demand to be filled, Apple will make the product themselves. IE was cancelled, Apple released Safari. Premiere had major bugs - which obviously wasn't being fixed by Adobe, so Apple released FCE.

Games have never been a high concern with Apple. Dunno why, they're just not.

Shouldn't Apple make their own games, then also? Just a couple of really cool ones would help Apple's image in the eyes of gamers. I bet the performance and graphics quality would be awesome since they know better than anybody how to take advantage of the features in the OS and hardware.

Maybe Pixar should get in on the action as well due to their experience in the entertainment industry.

 

[ChrisH3677]

The reason some us are worried about Apple's maketshare isn't their share of the PC market - it's their share of the OS market that's the problem.

Why? Network effect. The more people that have PC:s, the more profitable it becomes to make software for them. More software = PC:s become more useful = More people buy PC:s, etc.

Their share of what OS market? Server? Unix? Desktop! ok... but then Dell have ZERO percent of the desktop OS market - and they're not going out the door.

Let's think....

- Apple have 3.7% (in US) of personal computer sales.

- Apple have ZERO percent of the Windows market (tho you might argue technicalities that VPC and RDC give them a smidge percent - but I wouldn't since people don't buy Macs specifically as Windows boxes)

- Apple have ZERO percent of the Linux market (tho again, with Yellowdog etc, you might argue otherwise - but does anyone buy a Mac to specifically run Linux?)

- Apple have ONE HUNDRED percent of the Mac market.

- Dell etc have ZERO percent of the Mac market - yet do they look worried?

- There's plenty enough vendors making software for OSX for us not to be worried.

- Lastly, marketshare is only an indicator of sales market - it's not a measure of the installed base - which some say is between 5 and 10% of the desktop installed base. This is also significant to software developers.

 

[G5orbust]

IBM is a HUGE company. Its got its foot in the door on just about every established technology on this planet. It produces chips for AMD and Apple, as well as itself. It has a huge server business.

IBM isnt going anywhere.

 

[Fukui]

Actually, IE was cancelled as a result of Safari, with MS saying that since Apple had developed a proprietary browser that was standards compliant and was a faster browser as a result than any they could make for Mac OS, that they would be dropping IE support. Basically, it was their way of saying that MS shouldn't be blamed (anti-trust) for all of their proprietary crap that hampers developers, SunMicrosystems in particular probably.

I bet you anything apple got dropped a hint early that IE development was stopping, and developed safari in advance; they were lucky. Otherwise we would all be using either buggy IE or ugly Mozilla. Remember IE has ceased development for Windows and Mac TOGETHER, this was done to maximize features in Longhorn, and longhorn only. This decision was made a long time ago.

 

[Fukui]

- There's plenty enough vendors making software for OSX for us not to be worried.

- Lastly, marketshare is only an indicator of sales market - it's not a measure of the installed base - which some say is between 5 and 10% of the desktop installed base. This is also significant to software developers.

Exactly, 30 million potential customers are nothing to sneeze at.

 

[garybUK]

IBM : Probably one of the biggest compaines around, there is no way they are going bust, although I dont see many compaines outside the US using their services but they are still one of the companies that do true R&D.

Acer : Dont know much about

Fujitsu: These are yet another massive company, I cant see these going too fast either, they ditched their computer section and is now manufactured with Siemens. They make some quite good systems now, but Fujitsu makes other things than computers, Air conditioning etc.. They are massive in the services field, outsourcing software support, software development etc. This is mainly from the days they took over ICL (a UK Government IT compay). Many of their i.t. services sector is based on the old ICL model.

Gateway: haha they left the rest of the world and shrank into a little company running in north america who cares about this dell clone who make cheap nasty computers out of taiwan.

Personally i cant see how you can claim Dell, Gateway, Acer etc are in the same league as Fujistu, IBM, HP etc... the major difference being that IBM, HP, Fujistsu offer much more than a cheap plastic pc built in taiwan.

 

[yamabushi]

Gateway: haha they left the rest of the world and shrank into a little company running in north america who cares about this dell clone who make cheap nasty computers out of taiwan.

Personally i cant see how you can claim Dell, Gateway, Acer etc are in the same league as Fujistu, IBM, HP etc... the major difference being that IBM, HP, Fujistsu offer much more than a cheap plastic pc built in taiwan.

Apple computers are also made in Taiwan as well as mainland China. China and Taiwan together produce the vast majority of computers in the world. Personally I find this to be a very scary situation for the rest of us. It also isn't in the best interest of many businesses.

 

[geese]

94% market-share- what exactly does it mean?

The whole 95% windows market share arguement is doesnt actually tell you much.

That figure includes computing devices that you wouldnt think about, like cash registers, door-entry systems and ATM's (I know this, because my local Halifax bank ATM occassionally breaks down with a Windows error dialogue box, or sometimes the Dos 'Abour, Retry or Fail')

Obviously Apple are never going to target OS X to this type of market. Macs are purely Multimedia machines. Windows is a jack-of-all-trades platform.

 

[superbovine]

Just read the latest marketshare figures and it looks like IBM, Acer, Fujitsu and Gateway are doomed. Sell your stocks while you can! :eek

funny..

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2004-03-22-fortune-500-list_x.htm


NEW YORK (AP) — The Fortune 500 ranking of the nation's largest companies compiled by Fortune magazine on the basis of 2003 revenue. Each entry includes rank, name of company, headquarters, last year's rank and 2003 revenue in billions of dollars.

9. International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, N.Y., 8, $89.131
301. Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, Calif., 300, $6.207
484. Gateway Inc., Poway, Calif., 387, $3.402

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Just read the latest marketshare figures and it looks like IBM, Acer, Fujitsu and Gateway are doomed. Sell your stocks while you can!

Why? Coz their marketshares (from 3.2% to 5.6%, either US or worldwide) aren't all that different to Apple's - and everyone knows Apple's marketshare (3.7% in the US) is too small for them to survive.

Oh? Do I sound sarcastic? Oops!

PS Some will argue that in these figures, Apple's marketshare went down... but interestingly, their shipments went up 9.3%. Given the total market increased 10.9%... Apple did well to nearly match it. And they managed to capture 3.3% of that overall increase. So, I'm happy - they're sailing pretty steady.

Why did IDC limit the servers included under the PC category to x86? Why isn't Apple's Xserve included?

 

[ChrisH3677]

IBM : Probably one of the biggest compaines around, there is no way they are going bust, although I dont see many compaines outside the US using their services but they are still one of the companies that do true R&D.

Acer : Dont know much about

Fujitsu: These are yet another massive company, I cant see these going too fast either, they ditched their computer section and is now manufactured with Siemens. They make some quite good systems now, but Fujitsu makes other things than computers, Air conditioning etc.. They are massive in the services field, outsourcing software support, software development etc. This is mainly from the days they took over ICL (a UK Government IT compay). Many of their i.t. services sector is based on the old ICL model.

Gateway: haha they left the rest of the world and shrank into a little company running in north america who cares about this dell clone who make cheap nasty computers out of taiwan.

Personally i cant see how you can claim Dell, Gateway, Acer etc are in the same league as Fujistu, IBM, HP etc... the major difference being that IBM, HP, Fujistsu offer much more than a cheap plastic pc built in taiwan.

Did you miss the point?