

PC sales rise, Mac sales decline. Blame marketing? - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/03/17/why-are-pc-sales-mac-sales-down

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floozyspeak
PC sales rise.. they need to breakdown just what is rising there. I bet PC
desktops are dead and that PC netbooks are the cause of sales rising. And why
wouldn't they at $300 a pop.

Apple meanwhile is realizing the AIR is not a netbook and cursing every moment
of it despite it being a slick machine. They need to get into the netbook
offer and they may or may not do that, its not as if they are strapped for
cash, but they don't like missing out on the limelight because that sparks
trends, and the more people that get cheap netbooks and install osx on them
the more they crinkle inside with anger.

iMac sales are stalling, hence the price reduction. Laptop sales are flat. The
mini doesn't even count.

The only thing making Apple hotter than Jesus right now is the iPhone and App
Store.

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Tichy
Won't those netbook buyers wake up in a couple of weeks and realize that they
need a real PC?

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ryanwaggoner
No. Netbook sales have been growing for a couple years and they're like 10% of
all portable computer sales.

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floozyspeak
So folks are buying serious desktops for gaming then? Screw that 360 or ps3
experience? Or maybe they've been buying serious PCs for all those newly
unemployed?

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Brushfire
I dont know if you are trying to be comical or not, but the experience on 360
or ps3 is miserable when compared to most PC gaming, especially if you game
consistently and prefer aiming over auto targeting. Very distinct from the
Wii, which fits well and has its own niche.

So yes, most people who buy powerhouse computers do it either becuase they
think they need to, or they really do need to to play the newest games.

~~~
projectileboy
I agree. I'd also add that the game industry is never given enough credit for
the PC revolution. I remember back in the 80s when people started buying PCs
and Apples (and others)... almost everyone I ever met _said_ they bought them
for word processing or spreadsheets, but what they actually _did_ was play
Wizardry and Castle Wolfenstein.

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arien
Hm, I'd say the Apple brand awareness is very high (at least in my country),
so for me they don't fail on the marketing department.

I think it's probably just a matter of price. At least that's what used to
keep me away from Apple... Until I met the hardcore fanbase. Nowadays they are
the ones that keep me away from Apple. Hmm... maybe it's marketing, after all
:P

Anyway, it was also important that I couldn't run key apps (read: games) in a
Mac and I could on a PC. And sure, I could run Windows on a Mac, but if I'm
going to use Windows (or Linux, whatever), why can't I just go for a PC and
save money for something else? :)

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patio11
If there was ever a time to blame your performance on the economy, this would
be it. "We're expensive. Deal with it." is one of the core tenets of Apple's
brand image and business strategy.

~~~
lliiffee
Exactly right. Apple probably thinks that losing out on some sales in the
worst market with huge discounts isn't worth destroying that brand. When
things recover, and people expect PC notebooks to cost $500 and macs to cost
$1500, that might look very smart...

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antidaily
Purely a function of cost. You can get a Dell Vostro laptop for $400. The
entry level Apple is double that. Even the Mac Mini, Apple's cheapest
computer, is somewhat expensive based on raw specs when compared to say a Dell
Inspiron desktop.

~~~
jwilliams
_Apple's cheapest computer_

Yeah, but they're clever with that too. Arguably their cheapest computer is
the iPhone (depending where you are naturally).

~~~
chollida1
I see your point but I'd argue you can't call the iPhone a computer __until
you can write native apps for it and install them without a license from
apple.

 __I'm using computer in the sense of a PC/Mac like device where the user is
free to write and deploy what ever apps they want on it. I'll grant you that
the iPhone is computer like from the point of view of a locked down machine.

~~~
ninguem2
If you are capable of writing a native app for the iPhone, you are probably
capable of jailbreaking it too.

~~~
chollida1
not legally.

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gregparadee
I blame the recession and rise of netbooks. Apple does not have any netbooks
out in the market. Also with a recession going on people are not going to be
forking out big bucks for a mac when they can get a PC much cheaper even if
they do like the mac better. I wouldn't say its marketing MS new ads might be
cute but they are not making me want a PC.

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sgoraya
I'm still a PC user and buyer - _ducks_ ;)

Although a lot of my colleagues and friends have moved over to the Mac, I'm
still a PC user. I've heard all the great things about the Mac - one of my
buddies has been a lifelong die hard Mac user who goes ape shit on me about my
PC usage(in a fun loving way), but I still have not made the switch.

Anyhow, last month I ordered and purchased a super souped up Sager notebook (I
had one previously that I really liked too) for about 1/2 the cost of a
similar Mac setup and it includes the latest Nvidia 9800 GTX video card. I was
very very close to getting the Mac book pro, but went with what I knew. Yes, I
can run windows/PC apps on the Mac, but preferred going with my comfortable
setup and development environment that I have been using for what seems like
forever.

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bayareaguy
Personally I think marketing is to blame but it's not the kind this article
mentions. I've been wanting to buy something from Apple to replace my PPC
powerbook G4 for a few years now but what I have works and unfortunately
Apple's marketing department hasn't come up with anything I would rather have.
Sometimes I've been tempted to get a "new" G4 just because with all the wear
and tear my laptop's case is getting a little shabby.

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tptacek
Leave it to the trade press to construct a trend story out of a single data
point.

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tristan_juricek
Are there any numbers that do comparisons with on price (i.e., above and below
$1000)? Unit numbers are not so interesting. It's like trying to compare sales
at Wal-Mart and Nordstrom.

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sunkencity
Macbooks aren't that much more expensive than their pc counterparts. The white
one is more expensive, but the macbook pro is fairly on par with similar
offerings from pc manufacturers.

~~~
igorgue
? _macbook pro on par with similar offerings?_ which ones?, not the Lenovo's
Dell's or Sony's IMHO

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jellicle
Apple isn't a computer company. They're an mp3 player company that also makes
computers as a side business.

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scrod
_"There's a spirit of entrepreneurship that many Americans associate with
Windows and Microsoft. The recession is bringing it out."_

I find this explanation absolutely farcical.

~~~
cubicle67
I think there's a spirit of something else that many people associate with
Windows and Microsoft, and it's not entrepreneurship.

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TweedHeads
Propaganda. Move along.

