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

To: Don Green who wrote (43137)	2/12/2005 4:33:52 PM
From: Dave Budde	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213173

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.

To: Don Green who wrote (43137)	2/12/2005 5:44:23 PM
From: Cogito	Respond to of 213173

>>So far Jobs isn’t say and we all know he will be the first to claim this success. << Don - That's not something we all know. That is only something you assume. Apple did point out in their last conference call that their CPU unit sales had grown at a faster rate than that of the industry at large. Since all the data were not yet in, they couldn't make a definitive claim about increased market share at that time. They just pointed out the facts and allowed people to draw their own conclusions. Given the fact that exact market share numbers are hard to come by (note that the two major sources of this information usually disagree), I don't believe Steve Jobs would ever make a big announcement about small changes. I think it is clear from the most recent numbers that Apple did slightly increase their share for the last quarter. But of course, one quarter does not prove a trend is in place. We'll have to see what happens over the course of the year. Apple doesn't have to drastically increase their share to have an profitable business. They do have to stop losing share, though. I believe they have passed the bottom, but am waiting for more data to confirm that. - Allen

To: Don Green who wrote (43137)	2/12/2005 11:45:22 PM
From: JP Sullivan	Respond to of 213173

I get it, Don. You're interested in the big picture. No argument there. Some of us may prefer to concentrate on the little picture for now. Whatever makes the day ;-) I wonder how long it will take Apple to determine if all of their efforts to attract NEW users to the Mac has really worked. So far Jobs isn’t say and we all know he will be the first to claim this success. Why do you feel it's necessary for Apple (or SJ) to set a time limit for gauging the Switcher effort? I mean Apple's not in peril of disappearing in the immediate future. So, why the hurry? It's entirely possible that Apple's gains may be so minute at any instant as to be unworthy of mention. But it does not mean that Apple is not winning over Windows users on a consistent basis. Just because it's not out there in our faces, doesn't mean it's not happening. From what I've been reading and hearing, I get a sense that more and more people are noticing and even trying OS X if not for any reason other than because they are fed up with the never-ending security problems of Windows. Anyway, you know the battle between water and rock? Guess who won. May have taken a few thousand years, but what the hay... As long as Apple continues to make a good profit and roll out desirable machines, it has a good chance of winning a respectable share of the PC market. (Note that I'm only speaking about CPUs and not any other hot gadgets that Cupertino may be dreaming up even as I type.) Your target of 5% may take awhile, but I don't think it's an impossible goal. In the meantime, drip, drip, drip ... Think Water! -we-