
Why This Storm May Stay Away From Apple  - nickb
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/business/19digi.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
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mattmaroon
"Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, describes the iPhone
as 'the hottest consumer electronics product in the world'"

That would be the Nintendo Wii. It's been putting up iPhone-like sales numbers
for 2 years, and only that low because it can't produce them fast enough. It's
profitable out of the gate, and immensely so when factoring in game royalties,
virtual console game sales, etc.

~~~
unalone
Yeah. And yet, for some reason, the Wii still has awful third-party support.
The games library is nothing compared to the 360 and the PS3 has better non-
Sony games than the Wii has non-Nintendo games. I've never understood that.

~~~
Shorel
Game companies did not bet on the Wii.

And it takes a long time to develop a modern game.

So, it's a lack of foresight, more than anything else.

~~~
mattmaroon
Right. Making a game for both the Xbox 360 and the PS 3 isn't a big deal. You
probably have to code a lot of the same things twice, but you don't have to
fundamentally rethink much of the game's mechanics. The game is pretty much
the same to the user.

The Wii's controller makes it very good at different types of games. It's
kinda sucky for the old FPS or fighting games. Plus for anyone who has both a
Wii and an Xbox or PS3, you're going to buy games like Madden on the one that
offers it in high-def.

So the gaming companies went with what they knew. And they certainly couldn't
have guessed that the Wii would have sold more units than the other two
combined. I think now that they know that, they'll get a little more creative.

------
charlesju
I am typing this on the new Macbook.

I completely agree with the conclusion of this article, after using this
Macbook for a week, the changes from the previous generation are phenomenal.
The whole case is made out of one piece of aluminum which means that there are
no screws anywhere, and that provides for a much more durable and robust case.
The integrated GPU is AMAZING, I am getting 40-60 FPS in World of Warcraft,
that is better than my previous Macbook Pro. The keys are awesome, the screen
is brilliant, battery life is stellar, this notebook is 3-4 years ahead of its
competition in almost every way.

If you just look at Apple's history, the iPhone is the best smart phone on the
market, no other smart phone even comes close (look at the multiples of user
engagement on the iPhone vs any other phone). OS X is so much better than
Windows, look to any review or any user of OS X. And now, even the Macbook is
leaps and bounds beyond its competition.

Like I said in a previous comment, surviving the recession is easy: make good
(or for Apple, the best) products, charge for them, you'll do very well,
recession or not.

~~~
timae
Regarding the iPhone, I agree completely (no one else comes close). However,
not so sure on laptops. I think when your "big change" is that the body of the
laptop is built out of one piece of aluminium (as Ive prounouces it), then you
might be in trouble. The average consumer does not care about that.

The competition has figured out that design and weight matter and as a result
has produced some pretty nice looking, very portable machines... for a lot
less.

I personally am sticking with my iMac/Macbook, however as price becomes more
of a factor, I think that negatively impacts apple.

------
louislouis
Lets face it, he was probably thinking about his Apple shares when writing
this article.

~~~
mattmaroon
That's the only logical explanation. As he himself points out, people shy away
from expensive products in bad times. When your liquid net worth drops by 25%
in one week, you switch from buying the products you believe to be the best to
the ones that provide the most value. I know multiple people who are now
considering postponing their retirement. A $500 Dell is going to be their
laptop of choice.

Apple as a company is in great shape, especially with that balance sheet, but
I wouldn't look for their stock to soar any time soon.

------
ojbyrne
This article isn't so much content-free, as conclusion-free. It's like the key
word in the headline is "may." It says "at the helm of the good ship Apple,
all seems well", then 2 paragraphs later says the stock has fallen 51% so far
this year. It goes on to talk about how big a deal the new macbook pro cases
are, only to compare to to the Next cube ("Metallurgists were impressed;
prospective buyers were not).

Personally I think the new MBP is a misstep, and my 17" is still the best MBP
available.

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netcan
I think they might still be pretty durable in terms of market share. But not
against deferred purchases. Apple's stuff tends to be discretionary. People
buy when they want. That can be delayed.

