Apple taking its focus off of the computer industry?

I don't know whether other people feel this way, but I have noticed that in recent years apple has taken its eye off of the computer industry and focused more on the music industry. They were talking about it on NPR about six months ago but I don't really recall what they were talking about. I also heard something about apple losing rather then gaining their place in the computer industry (5%, or something).

Comments? Opinions?

I don't think Apple has taken it eyes off of the computer market. If you remember what Steve Job said a long time ago. He is working to make the computer as the digital hub in the home. The iPod and iTunes music store is just one of the pieces or connect to the digital hub.

when talking to an apple store manager they said that 70% of their sales are for iPod/accessories. during the year only 30% is for computers. But for whatever reason he told me since the iBook upgrade in October sales for the 12" iBook model has shot through the roof. So Apple did good with lowering the price on the 12" and adding the airport standard and bumping up the speed. He said this is for his location only, it may vary as he knows the NYC store sells a lot more Macs than his store. Almost 50% more i think he said. A lot of ad agencies and graphic design people he assumed.

But yeah, if Apple did not have the iPod i think they'd be in trouble again.

code777 said:

But yeah, if Apple did not have the iPod i think they'd be in trouble again.

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i hear this a lot, but feel its not true. Apple has had very profitable reportings due to the iPod (and even reached a 4 year high this year). but that doesnt mean they'd be in trouble again.

lets see:
Virginia Tech: 1000 G5s, then 1000 G5 XServe's, and recently all updated to a new 2.3GHz processor. plus an apple technician or an apple certified technician (either way they make money).

G5 iMac: sales during the 4Q alone were reported as $216 million... granted that was after its release, but that was actually 23% lower than the previous year. Reportedly due to the shortage of the old G4s and the lack of G5s available after the release

and during the back to school rush, i sold at least 2 notebooks (mostly PBs) a week. and i was only 1 salesman in an Authorized Seller store with the Apple store in the mall across the street. so i imagine they sold quite a few there as well as many more online with the education discount.

so for apple: (# of products per store)x(price - marginalCost)x(#OfStores)x(about 3 weeks for back to school) = $$$$$ for Apple

so iPod+(all earnings above) = highest earnings

making another post since its a little different:

their focus on music is probably due to what Steve said earlier this year (i think during the 100 million iTMS give-away). "This is going to be the biggest year in music"

then after that was AirPort Express >> Europe iTMS >> New iPod >> iPod Photo >> U2 iPod >> now many other countries

my guess is theyre pushing the music thing to help sell more Macs. notice on most iMac G5 signs its says "from the makers of the iPod" ? its smart. they were trying to get people to switch by telling them. give them something they want, then they'll think about it. cause after all Apple has always been a Hardware company. They make their software to help sell their hardware. excluding their professional AV software. but again, thats to get people using Macs without complaining about lack of software. make the best software, and they wont complain anymore.

a lot of people i talk to feel that macs are too expensive. EVERYONE i talk to mentions the DELL as the best bang for your buck computer. I think the iMac G5 starting at $1300 is a good deal for what you get (and the iBook 12" is even a better deal!)but i can't convince anyone in the office or many of my friends that it is a good deal. Most scoff at Macs and how they can purchase a DELL for $500 and claim it is a decent PeeCee. Also everyone has the perception that there is no software for Mac. Everything is written for Windows. A guy in the office said, "Go into a Wally World and tell me how many Mac products they sell..." whatever.

When I was in college there was the option to use Macs in the labs but NO ONE ever used them (including me) because we all thought Macs were backwards; then my college got rid of them the following year (but after 6yrs I hear my old college now has G4 iMacs in the labs). Granted I grew up on Apple Computers (my father was a software engineer for them back in 1985) but after I was introduced to the PeeCee/Windooze I was sold. I just recently came back after 6 yrs. I'm glad I made the switch. OS X is by far the best platform I've used. Granted XP Pro is good but it has its quarks, etc...

But today every business/corporation uses Windows. Its just the way it goes.

But yes the manager of the apple store i frequent told me a few people who buy iPods do end up buying an iBook 12" or iMac G4. The iMac G5 hasn't really taken off yet he said (no idea why not!) and he doesn't expect it to (!?) anytime soon but yes there is a meathod to their madness with "from the creators of the iPod"

All I know is I've gone Mac and can't see myself going back . BUT for work I have to study Windows XP Pro since I work in IT so I have no choice. For personal use I've gone mac!

MacAddikt said:

my guess is theyre pushing the music thing to help sell more Macs. notice on most iMac G5 signs its says "from the makers of the iPod" ? its smart. they were trying to get people to switch by telling them. give them something they want, then they'll think about it. cause after all Apple has always been a Hardware company. They make their software to help sell their hardware. excluding their professional AV software. but again, thats to get people using Macs without complaining about lack of software. make the best software, and they wont complain anymore.

Click to expand...

Yes, this happened to my friend. He downloaded iTunes for windoze and one week later a mac was sitting on his desk.

Regardless, I think that you guys are missing what I'm trying to say. Its not the money I'm talking about, I'm talking about slower upgrades, less creativity and innovationin their new models. What happened to the company that developed an all-in-one computer that had a floating screen?

witeshark said:

The OS X advantage over certain other OS's will take hold. It's just a matter of time. Like how we all switched, no?

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Maybe, but some people still look at the mac as "the OS 7-9" system which most people didn't like. It will definetly take some time...

I know lots of people in the music business, even did a good amount of graphic design work for severl big name record labels, I notice lots of musicians going to mac for music creation and editing, and sa a graphic designer, I use macs, so does anyone doing any work for me, so do other graphic design firms and printshops.

But that has always been the case.

The creative industries have long been faithful mac users...
It wasn't until I got my iPod that I started to warm to apple, up until then I had this horrible impression they made fun boxes with horrible operating systems...(OS 9 - yeuch...)

Most people look at OS X and first impression is: so where's the start button? I explain that there isn't one, you open apps through the dock or through your apps folder...
"You have to open a folder just to open an application?? How retarded"
So I explain you can just link the folder to your dock etc...
They still don't get it...
I explain about the better drag and drop support ("so what, I can copy paste too")
The great iLife apps ("I prefer to sort my mp3's and photo's by folder")
The integration of address book, ichat and mail ("Outlook express has an address book too")
and how it doesn't crash..("blablabla")



SIGH!

my friend is in a professional band that is currently touring worldwide and he says everyone uses Powerbooks. They are actually issued (well not issued as it is added into expenses) 15" Powerbooks for the road. They can write music, record music, send emails to friends/loved ones, etc... but he said when its time to go into the studio its all Mac. Power Mac G5's that run the boards and editing. Its interesting that the "entertainment" field favor Macs.

Yeah when I was in college I hated the Mac OS at that time (1997) and always used Windooze. But ever since OS X I think they done good. I love it and have made the switch for life, the OS can only get better (right?)

As a lot of you here, OS X sold me. It's a pleasure to use and very logical. It's unfortunate the older versions of Mac OS had left a bad taste in some people's mouth but as it's been stated here, in time OS X will replace those feelings. And one thing I hate hearing, again as has already been said, "There's no software for it" and I hear it all the time!!! Don't worry though, I do my part.

"So wot software do you need?"
"I need office software"
"AppleWorks or even MSOffice is made for Mac."
"Well I need Outlook."
"Mail."
"Wot about AIM?"
"iChat AV"
"..."

I defiantly agree with the iPod making people jump to Mac - worked for me!

I bought my iPod in February and I was just amazed with it and iTunes. So I came back for more. Apple know this and so are investing a lot of money into iPod to make it work. People who buy iPods are more likely to switch to Mac than somebody who buys a Sony HDDMGJKRKMKVSE thingy

agreed, iPod is what made me think about the mac. When i was shopping around for a new laptop I looked at Toshiba and HP (at Best Buy - what a HORRIBLE experience - those kids have NO idea what they are talking about), dear me am I glad I stopped by the Apple Store for kicks. When I bought my iPod I loved iTunes and it got me thinking about Mac OS. But I kept thinking about OS 8. That was the OS used when I was in college. Then I remember a guy that had OS 9 and I still was not impressed at all. But when I walked into the Apple Store and saw how much had changed in their OS since version 8/9 I was REALLY impressed. The fun factor, the look, the ease of use, the platform Unix - I went home that night and did as much research as possible on the iBooks. Thanks to this forum I waited for the new version of the iBook to be released in October and bought it promptly.

The whole iPod thing worked on me but the rest of my friends (exception of two!) refuse to even look at Mac OS X and they all own iPods. Two of my buddies bought a 12" iBook over an HP and Toshiba and they are happy. But another bud of mine who is about to buy a laptop refuses to even touch an iBook and has his heart set on a Toshiba. To each his own. But again, Apple seems more focused on the iPod product...

[EDIT] I do feel that Apple is still progressing with their iBook iMac/Powerbook/Powermac line. But I guess updates are a bit slower since the demand for these things aren't at a peak. iPods will probably advance more quickly than the computers, maybe...

That'll never happen as someone pointed out and widely known in the Mac community the Jobs ideology is to make a 'digital hub'. If Apple pursues the music industry thru direct licensing with the artist rather than have the middle man, the record execs, then I think the artist will profit more and Apple may possibly resurrect the Beatles' Apple Records.

When people realize the revolution OS X is from system 7.x - OS 9.x - a lot will happen. If they also know that windows is really the OS walking dead. The PC has no operating system now, except very nearly complete distros of Linux. The Windows quagmire is the result of its core - the registry. This is very similar to root in the Unix realm, although root in Unix is the all powerful user/admin. The registry is not a user, but it is still the ultimate power system edit in windows. Ever have something you could not remove from Windows? And then have someone show you how to use REGEDIT to fix it? Well that is what just about EVERY new worm is doing, editing the registry, thus rendering any program vulnerable. They can't fix it; it's absolutely indefensible and an endless cycle of new attacks > new defense exists now.
The only hope Windows has is a new OS with no registry, rendering all existing applications useless, since each, without exception, is rooted in the registry. That is the bottom line, and all PC makers selling Windows PCs are, in my opinion, selling useless garbage.

Aptmunich said:

"You have to open a folder just to open an application?? How retarded"
So I explain you can just link the folder to your dock etc...
They still don't get it...
I explain about the better drag and drop support ("so what, I can copy paste too")
The great iLife apps ("I prefer to sort my mp3's and photo's by folder")
The integration of address book, ichat and mail ("Outlook express has an address book too")
and how it doesn't crash..("blablabla")



SIGH!

Click to expand...

and thats why i no longer sell macs

code777 said:

my friend is in a professional band that is currently touring worldwide and he says everyone uses Powerbooks. They are actually issued (well not issued as it is added into expenses) 15" Powerbooks for the road. They can write music, record music, send emails to friends/loved ones, etc... but he said when its time to go into the studio its all Mac. Power Mac G5's that run the boards and editing. Its interesting that the "entertainment" field favor Macs.

Yeah when I was in college I hated the Mac OS at that time (1997) and always used Windooze. But ever since OS X I think they done good. I love it and have made the switch for life, the OS can only get better (right?)

Click to expand...

What band?

Good point on the Windows reg. Its so true. Thats why I love Mac so much. Its a good solid foundation and they make Unix work for the masses unlike Linux. The sad truth is if M$ were to release a new OS with only half of the features that OSX now has everyone that uses a PC would run out and get it EVEN IF it wouldnt run the old software. Developers would start to flood in and soon it would pass OSX in software you can get.

I show as many people I can my iBook. Everyone that uses it seems to love it. I actually got about 5 people to dump the PC and go Mac over the last year alone. Exposure is all we need. OSX sells itself when used by people the first time.