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For the better part of 20 years, Mac lovers fumed in frustration as Apple languished in sub-5% PC market share territory. That's the very first sentence. Take

by GHFigs 16y ago

For the better part of 20 years, Mac lovers fumed in frustration as Apple languished in sub-5% PC market share territory. That's the very first sentence. Take a wild guess at where he's going from there.

jister 16y ago
Sure but it's true anyway...
- tjogin 16y ago
  I don't know about that. I think the Mac market share is pretty good where it's at right now. Certainly it doesn't need to get any bigger. It's big enough that people need to consider Mac users as a part of their user base. And, it's small enough so malware producers and scam artists stay focused on Windows. As a Mac user, I don't really see what I'd have to gain from an increased Mac market share. And I don't really see what's in it for Apple either; I mean, they're doing "ok" as it is. Certainly Apple could increase its market share quite a bit by compromising more, but that's just not what they do.
  - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
    The reason you don't care is because the web saved Apple. The web will in turn stop Apple locking down the smartphone and tablet markets.
    - tjogin 16y ago
      Without explanation, it sounds like you attribute near magical abilities to the web.
      - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
        Yeah, I should have fleshed that out. Basically, "Apps" where the big thing that held people to Windows. When people built these apps, non Windows platforms were lucky to get a look-in. But then the focus shifted to the web. Webmail, Google, Facebook, Flash etc. made Mac and PC more interchangeable for many folk, and let people downsize to netbooks and now tablets. Now people think that iDevice owners are locked in to their "app" purchases. But the same thing, the web, now gives HP/Palm, Nokia/Meego and WinMo 7 a shot, maybe even leaving room for more, maybe an Android fork.
raganwald 16y ago
Agreed! And, I'm disappointed at where he didn't go, namely he didn't mention that during Jobs' exile, Apple's strategy was to make more and more money off fewer and fewer customers, by selling weak products at high prices. Jobs has brought back an emphasis on building strong products and expanding their market share, in part by relentlessly driving prices down even when anyone with a spreadsheet can see that they could capture more revenue today by keeping prices high and selling fewer units. The OP really didn't address the fact that while Android will be ubiquitous, hardware manufacturers will not get a free pass to compete with Apple on price as PC manufacturers did during the exile. Also, the author missed the biggest point of comparison: Mac market share is still insignificant. But Apple's share of the profit is reputed to be larger than the top three PC manufacturers combined. Will this play out again in the handset business?
- GHFigs 16y ago
  hardware manufacturers will not get a free pass to compete with Apple on price as PC manufacturers did during the exile Good point. It reminds me of one of the things Jobs said about 7" tablets not being able to to meet the larger iPad on price. It sounded daft at the time, as the screen is surely the most expensive component, but then here comes the 5" Dell Streak at $550 and the 7" Galaxy Tab at $400 with contract.
  - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
    A 3.5 inch iPhone 4 with 8GB costs less than a 10 inch iPad with 16GB and no 3G or GPS. This says something, though I'm not exactly sure what, but at the very least it suggests that big screen = big price is too simplistic.
    - protomyth 16y ago
      Technically only with subsidy: $499 (iPhone 3GS 8GB), $599 (iPhone 4 16GB), or $699 (iPhone 4 32GB). Still not sure if that means as much as it should.
      - 16y ago
brudgers 16y ago
In the PC market, they still have less than 5% on a worldwide basis. Their share is higher in the US http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpaf=-000%09101%09US%0D&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=141&sample=39 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share..... > "Some believed Android would win because the iPhone was chained to AT&T" Again only true for the US.
rwmj 16y ago
Take a wild guess at where he's going from there ... into bullshit territory. I had to endure a pre-OS X desktop at my first job ('96?) and it was absolutely terrible. When it wasn't crashing hard (requiring a complete reboot) it was barely usable. That was compared to Linux of the same era which was rock solid and lightweight. If pre-OS X was 5% of the PC market, that was 5% too much. Best thing Jobs did was to throw that entire codebase away.

by GHFigs 16y ago

jister 16y ago

Sure but it's true anyway...

tjogin 16y ago
I don't know about that. I think the Mac market share is pretty good where it's at right now. Certainly it doesn't need to get any bigger. It's big enough that people need to consider Mac users as a part of their user base. And, it's small enough so malware producers and scam artists stay focused on Windows. As a Mac user, I don't really see what I'd have to gain from an increased Mac market share. And I don't really see what's in it for Apple either; I mean, they're doing "ok" as it is. Certainly Apple could increase its market share quite a bit by compromising more, but that's just not what they do.
- ZeroGravitas 16y ago
  The reason you don't care is because the web saved Apple. The web will in turn stop Apple locking down the smartphone and tablet markets.
  - tjogin 16y ago
    Without explanation, it sounds like you attribute near magical abilities to the web.
    - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
      Yeah, I should have fleshed that out. Basically, "Apps" where the big thing that held people to Windows. When people built these apps, non Windows platforms were lucky to get a look-in. But then the focus shifted to the web. Webmail, Google, Facebook, Flash etc. made Mac and PC more interchangeable for many folk, and let people downsize to netbooks and now tablets. Now people think that iDevice owners are locked in to their "app" purchases. But the same thing, the web, now gives HP/Palm, Nokia/Meego and WinMo 7 a shot, maybe even leaving room for more, maybe an Android fork.

raganwald 16y ago

Agreed! And, I'm disappointed at where he didn't go, namely he didn't mention that during Jobs' exile, Apple's strategy was to make more and more money off fewer and fewer customers, by selling weak products at high prices. Jobs has brought back an emphasis on building strong products and expanding their market share, in part by relentlessly driving prices down even when anyone with a spreadsheet can see that they could capture more revenue today by keeping prices high and selling fewer units. The OP really didn't address the fact that while Android will be ubiquitous, hardware manufacturers will not get a free pass to compete with Apple on price as PC manufacturers did during the exile. Also, the author missed the biggest point of comparison: Mac market share is still insignificant. But Apple's share of the profit is reputed to be larger than the top three PC manufacturers combined. Will this play out again in the handset business?

GHFigs 16y ago
hardware manufacturers will not get a free pass to compete with Apple on price as PC manufacturers did during the exile Good point. It reminds me of one of the things Jobs said about 7" tablets not being able to to meet the larger iPad on price. It sounded daft at the time, as the screen is surely the most expensive component, but then here comes the 5" Dell Streak at $550 and the 7" Galaxy Tab at $400 with contract.
- ZeroGravitas 16y ago
  A 3.5 inch iPhone 4 with 8GB costs less than a 10 inch iPad with 16GB and no 3G or GPS. This says something, though I'm not exactly sure what, but at the very least it suggests that big screen = big price is too simplistic.
  - protomyth 16y ago
    Technically only with subsidy: $499 (iPhone 3GS 8GB), $599 (iPhone 4 16GB), or $699 (iPhone 4 32GB). Still not sure if that means as much as it should.
    - 16y ago

brudgers 16y ago

In the PC market, they still have less than 5% on a worldwide basis. Their share is higher in the US http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpaf=-000%09101%09US%0D&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=141&sample=39 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share..... > "Some believed Android would win because the iPhone was chained to AT&T" Again only true for the US.

rwmj 16y ago

Take a wild guess at where he's going from there ... into bullshit territory. I had to endure a pre-OS X desktop at my first job ('96?) and it was absolutely terrible. When it wasn't crashing hard (requiring a complete reboot) it was barely usable. That was compared to Linux of the same era which was rock solid and lightweight. If pre-OS X was 5% of the PC market, that was 5% too much. Best thing Jobs did was to throw that entire codebase away.