Don, you're being very short sighted when you look just at total market share numbers and judging Apple only on that basis.
Apple will not increase market share as it is measured any time soon. This is mainly because they choose not to participate in every computing category that is used to measure market share for the PC. However, this is a stupid metric by which to judge Apple's ability to continue to succeed.
For some of the categories where they do choose to participate they are doing quite well. For instance, in the laptop category (the most important consumer category in recent years) Apple's market share (last I saw) was 7% and growing. This is not insignificant.
Besides market share the more interesting metrics for which to judge Apple are:
1. Are they consistently profitable? Yes, more so than any other PC company.
2. Do they command attention of developers? Every WWDC for the last 5 years has shown increasing developer interest and attendance. There is equivalent or better software available for Apple platforms in every computing category.
3. Do they continue to develop new and interesting products? iMac G5, iPod, powerbook, ibook, and Mac mini product lines are all doing well.
4. Do they provide a good set of software? No other computer company has the arsenal of top notch software products the likes of OS X, consumer software such as iLife and iWork, pro level apps such as Final Cut HD, Logic, Shake etc. |
