What is Dell Thinking?
I have to admit I’m rather enjoying Michael Dell’s continuing dissing of Apple. He reminds me of Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns.
If you missed it, during a press conference to discuss Dell’s missing of their quarterly financial targets, Michael Dell was asked what he thought of Apple. His response was that Apple was not really a competitor; and, as proof, stated that Apple was not even in the top five PC makers. Apparently, he was out of touch with the tech news that day. If not, he would have known that Apple has moved into the number four computer maker slot. Third quarter financial results for Apple posted a 16% growth (driven primarily by notebook sales on the computer side) while Dell recently posted a 6% growth rate.
Remember Dell’s comments back in 1997 when he suggested that Apple sell the company and give the money back to its shareholders? I doubt if he’s saying that now; and if he is, it’s all bravado.
Apple isn’t likely to give Dell a run for the money in pure numbers of units anytime soon, but Apple is likely to continue its growth into sectors of the PC market that Dell and others have occupied. As I’ve said before in this blog, I believe that the heydays of Microsoft and Windows are over. If that’s true, Dell has nowhere to go but down since they’re unlikely to convince Apple anytime in the near future to license OS X to them.
The race between Apple and PC vendors is more even than ever. To run Windows Vista, most people are going to have to go out and buy new PC’s. Once a consumer hits that stage, Apple’s positive press and OS X’s reputation for both security and ease of use are going to cause more and more people to take a stronger look at Apple. I predict that many of them will pay a little extra for a better experience. With Macs now able to run Windows and OS X, consumers now have little to lose by switching to Mac hardware.
If you missed it, during a press conference to discuss Dell’s missing of their quarterly financial targets, Michael Dell was asked what he thought of Apple. His response was that Apple was not really a competitor; and, as proof, stated that Apple was not even in the top five PC makers. Apparently, he was out of touch with the tech news that day. If not, he would have known that Apple has moved into the number four computer maker slot. Third quarter financial results for Apple posted a 16% growth (driven primarily by notebook sales on the computer side) while Dell recently posted a 6% growth rate.
Remember Dell’s comments back in 1997 when he suggested that Apple sell the company and give the money back to its shareholders? I doubt if he’s saying that now; and if he is, it’s all bravado.
Apple isn’t likely to give Dell a run for the money in pure numbers of units anytime soon, but Apple is likely to continue its growth into sectors of the PC market that Dell and others have occupied. As I’ve said before in this blog, I believe that the heydays of Microsoft and Windows are over. If that’s true, Dell has nowhere to go but down since they’re unlikely to convince Apple anytime in the near future to license OS X to them.
The race between Apple and PC vendors is more even than ever. To run Windows Vista, most people are going to have to go out and buy new PC’s. Once a consumer hits that stage, Apple’s positive press and OS X’s reputation for both security and ease of use are going to cause more and more people to take a stronger look at Apple. I predict that many of them will pay a little extra for a better experience. With Macs now able to run Windows and OS X, consumers now have little to lose by switching to Mac hardware.
posted by Andy Foster at
9:17 PM
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