Article says Mac OS market share stable, possibly growing
from Macsense
Wednesday, February 05, 1997. At least one member of the media admits that Apple is right. The Mac OS market share isn't shrinking. It's holding steady and possibly growing.
Apple released figures stating this last week. (See our 1-30 Hot Bits for details.) And a NEWS.COM story (1-31) says that the overall market for the Mac OS "is stabilizing, and maybe growing slightly, thanks to clone vendors." Approximately 250,000 more Mac OS systems shipped in 1996 than in 1995. Figures indicate the Mac OS market may continue to grow in 1997.
So how many units are Mac OS compatibles selling? Based on various reports, Motorola sold at least 40,000 StarMax units in their first eight weeks of release, UMAX sold at least 100,000 from July to December 1996, Power Computing apparently sold upwards of 500,000 units in 1996, and DayStar sold an estimated 3,000. (DayStar's systems are high end, multiprocessing systems aimed at specific markets and, so, sell far fewer units than other vendors.)
While this news is encouraging, Apple faces two problems. The Mac OS market share needs to grow at the same pace as the overall computer market share--or even faster--to stem the "Apple is dying" deluge of stories. And Mac clone makers must increase the Mac OS market or else there will simply be more companies wanting a slice of the same pie.
At least one clone maker seems intent on accomplishing this. UMAX reportedly plans to aggressively pursue the Asian market. The company said in an earlier NEWS.COM interview they plan to boost Mac OS sales in Asia by 300 percent and by as much, or more, in China and Southeast Asia.
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My own comment is that I keep getting these reports of *new* MacOS licensees and I think why would they would take the apparently suicidal risk of investing in a *dying* technology? Don't they read Computer World or listen to Wall Street analysts or,at the very least, heed the warnings of those on this thread?
On this point, Motorola has announced a reorganization that will strengthen its MacOS line. (They discontinued selling their NT compatibles last year.) I only wish those cheapskates would do their own TV spots rather than living off Apple's dime.
soup
PS. AAPL's book value is roughly $16 per share. |
