The titan battle between Mac and PC wages on stronger than ever before. The numbers are mixed, the advertising budget have been massive and the branding has been impressive. In light of it all, where is Apple taking their fame and is it the right direction?
It’s impossible to not have noticed the ride that Apple took a few years after their undeniable success with the iPod. They first convinced every youth that they had to have one. Then they expanded their age bracket and dare sold us on the idea that we had to have two each, one for more music and more games and another for working out. They used that brand recognition and large customer base to bring MacBooks to the masses. They improved looks, OS, software and increased their marketing budgets to nearly Microsoft numbers. Of course, then came the iTunes Store, the iPhone and the App Store.
A lot of their success in computers today can be attributed to their decision to move to Intel chips and i86 architecture followed by their promotion of BootCamp which convinced us all that we could have a Mac and a PC. Apple stores were flooded while their market share rose only slightly.
The Apple of today is very different than even 5 years ago. They have more store, more “geniuses” and more profit centers. Like printers and ink, they have capitalized on selling us hardware only to then sell us “consumables” in the form of entertainment and software. It’s all-to obvious with every upgrade in iTunes they want us buying more and more music from them and it’s no wonder, as the profit margin is fantastic for them. The same exact same is true for the App Store.
Their laptops and desktops seem to have taken a back seat over the last 2 years. They only saw minor face lifts, no break-thru innovation and all-to-late addition of SD card readers. This latest improvement parallels their renaming of their biggest seller, the 13 inch MacBook which was already a spitting image of its larger brother, the 15 inch MacBook Pro. Now, the little laptop is called a MacBook Pro as well, now bringing the Pro lineup to 3 different machines and leaving their $999 white MacBook all alone. A year ago, it appeared as if that machine was drop off the charts but it’s staying power hints at Apple’s plan. The economic down turn and a slew of price gouging ads by Microsoft have taken from some of Apple’s market share gains. They are appealing, but hurting. Their new re-branding of a laptop cuts a hole in their lineup where a more price competitive model can squeeze in.
The online rumor mills are churning out constant evidence supporting a low priced tablet Mac that will be based on the touchscreen success of the iPhone and iPod Touch, yet have the computer power of a full laptop or at least of a modern netbook. With all the allure that Apple has, yet the failing sales, it’s an easy business decision to bring in a product that’s more affordable. Whether it is a tablet, a netbook, a lower cost notebook or any combination has yet to be determined, at least outside of the Apple headquarters.
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