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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan Fleuris who wrote (34951)	9/18/2002 1:03:19 PM
From: spitsong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213172

Apple's biggest problem ... is the same problem every other PC manufacturer faces: a stagnant PC market. Only one company has really made inroads against that tide: Dell. Every other PC company, including Apple, has struggled. My previous post shows that excepting Dell, Apple has suffered less than every other PC company, and that Dell has really been stealing market share from the rest of the PC crowd rather than Apple. This link should show the reason for that: idc.com In a nutshell, this link shows that in the U.S., consumer PC sales fell off about 20% from 2000 to 2001, and are not expected to recover this year or even next year. By contrast, in the U.S., commercial PC sales fell off less than 10% between 2000 and 2001, and while they aren't expected to recover this year either, they are expected to recover next year. Worldwide, the impact has been less but the disproportionality of the impact has been similar: consumer PC sales dropped off about 10% between 2000 and 2001, are not expected to recover this year, and are expected to be back up to 2000 levels next year. Contrast that with worldwide commercial PC sales, which were basically flat between 2000 and 2001 (and are expected to be flat again this year), but are expected to strongly rebound next year. I personally think IDC's projections are optimistic for next year but are probably on target for this year, assuming a continuation of current political and economic conditions (not a given, IMO). However, if we just look at 2000 through this year, what we see is that the consumer sector, where Apple and Gateway have their strength, has been disproportionately impacted by the economic slowdown. And through that, while Apple has indeed been hurt, it hasn't been hurt nearly to the extent of Gateway. So, Apple's biggest problem is that one of its core markets (consumers) has been hurt as much as or more than any other market. Its educational market can be assumed to be similarly impacted, with reduced tax incomes causing lower levels of PC buying in educational settings. Nevertheless, Apple continues to make money, a claim that only Dell is able to echo in the PC space, though I have concerns about how much of those profits are paper profits only, as a result of the result of dilution caused by options grants to insiders. Of course, I also have concerns about how much of Dell's recently reported profit is real, too. Buona fortuna

To: Dan Fleuris who wrote (34951)	9/18/2002 1:23:48 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213172

Dan Fleuris > Don, you cited a highly biased and misleading article: Dan this is an article like many others, written by reporters / writers who specialize and I assume own Apple products. Biased?? or Brutally Honest? Charles Haddad, Atlanta-based correspondent for BusinessWeek, is a long-time Apple Computer buff. Follow his weekly Byte of the Apple column, only on BusinessWeek Online It just confirms exactly what I and others have commented on over the last few months. My son attends a very expensive private school which could easily afford Apple computers (and many if not most of the parents drive BMW's, Porsche or Mercedes, I prefer Lexus myself) and I asked about this issue at a school board meeting last spring and they stated just like this and other articles confirm that parents are most concerned that their children learn on computers they will most likely be using in the corporate world when they look for jobs. As I also said the only Apple computer the schools has is in the graphics lab. In fact I think the writer is following this thread for ideas.. LOL! regards Don

To: Dan Fleuris who wrote (34951)	9/19/2002 2:00:33 AM
From: Dave	Respond to of 213172

Actually I wouldn't waste too much time lamenting Cheryl Vedoe's departure. Apple bought PowerSchool in March 2001. You'll notice that her departure was announced eighteen months later, almost to the day. When you go from running a small company to being a functional cog in a bigger company, it's a hard transition. I would have been surprised if she had stuck around past her contractual obligation. As far as Apple's alleged decline in the education market, it depends on when you start counting. Apple's education market share declined by 40% before the eMac was released. It had been a long time since Apple had refreshed its all-in-one line, and there was no compelling reason for schools to replace perfectly good machines when all of their IT budget was going toward replacing their flaky PCs with other flaky PCs. But after after the eMac was released, Apple's education market share increased by 25%. That article puts about the most negative spin on increasing market share that I have seen in a long time. Thanks for the chuckle. Dave