Posted on 08/17/2009 3:09:25 AM PDT by Swordmaker
How does a company that owns only 8 percent of the handset industry revenue kick so much butt? Apple's ability to reinvent markets leads to command of high-end, high-margin business.
Apple's stock has been on a tear this year, starting at around $85 per share and rising steadily to $165. Sure, the new iPhone 3GS and the ever-popular MacBook Pro line are big reasons for the lift.
But how does a company that owns only 8 percent of the handset industry revenue, according to Bernstein Research, kick so much butt?
Apple plays almost exclusively in the high end of the handset and computer markets, which translates into mighty profits. In the handset industry, for instance, Apple commands nearly a third of all profits while being only the fifth largest vendor.
Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, quoted in an AllThingsD post, said: "Even if we exclude the operating losses generated by Motorola and Sony Ericsson, Apple still accounted for 25 percent of industry profits. iPhone's success is akin to Apple's position in the PC industrywhere the company enjoys an estimated 25 percent of industry profits, despite capturing only 6 percent of industry revenues."
Apple, of course, is known for delivering stylish high-end products. Its MacBook Pro line consistently ranks among the highest performing laptops, according to the InfoWorld Test Center, a sister Web site to CIO.com.
Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner contends that Apple delivers good bang for the buck. He says iMacs, for instance, match up favorably against Dell and HP's All-in-One's on a price-to-performance basis. "Apple's pricing has been perpetually misrepresented and misunderstood over the years," he told me earlier this year. "With a few notable exceptions, such as the MacBook Pro, Apple has typically offered more hardware for the money than competitors."
Although Apple slashed the cost of MacBook Pro computers earlier this year, MacBook Pros are still some of the most expensive on the marketas are Macs, which has stymied Mac's numbers in the enterprise. "You can buy a PC for $400, while the cheapest Mac is over a thousand," Jon Graff, director of IT operations at A&E Television Networks, told me earlier this year.
So why is Apple successful on the high-end, high-margins of the market? Good technology is one reason, for sure. Another reason: it's much easier to capture the highpoint in a market you've reinvented. Put another way, Sacconaghi credits Apple's first mover advantage to its success.
"With the iPhone and its Apps Store, Apple has established a formidable smartphone ecosystem, which history suggests is very difficult to overcome," said Sacconaghi in the AllThingsD post. "In fact, Apple has the potential to become a de-facto standard of sorts in the consumer smartphone market ... due in large part to its first mover advantage and tight software and hardware integration."
$386.10 plus shipping gets you this Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower with 2.6Ghz Intel Dual-Core E5300, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB 7200RPM HD, 16x DVD-ROM, Windows Vista Home Basic, a 1 year warranty, plus an 23” widescreen 1080p Samsung 2333SW LCD monitor, expiring 8/19/09! ................
EXPIRED
I assure you plenty of people got in on that deal. But like I posted it’s $430 after you get 250Gb hard drive and Vista Home Premium so you get the free Windows7 upgrade.
I doubt that. This link took too many round trips before getting to Dell. I think it was click bait.
are you for real? http://www.gotapex.com GotApex is a well known and responsible site. You will find the expired Dell deal there. It was due to expire today and it did so ....usually they expire at Midnight but Dell ended it slightly early
Yes, I am for real and I think this was a fraudulent come on for clicks. It is merely a claim by a poster that he had found this deal... no proof. Even the POS Dell on this deal may look to some like a good deal... but I think even for Dell it sounded too good to be true. Sometimes Dennis, when something sounds to good to be true, it isn't true, even if its a Dell deal. Had it been a Dell 23" monitor, I would have believed it more... but a Samsung?
If it was a legitimate Dell deal, why did this guy's link for the deal take me to five non-Dell re-direct sites before resting on Dell Italy before the Dell Italy site, based on my URL, redirected me to a null page at Dell USA?
Legitimate deals on GorApex take you directly to the deal, not a round-about way through Europe, amassing hit credits for some unknown sites.
Configuring a Vostro 220" at Dell's website with what was claimed to be included ($346) and adding Dell's current best price for that Samsung 23" monitor ($210), the price comes to $556. For that $556, you get a computer with a 2.6GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo (E5300) processor with only a 2MB L2 Cache and an 800Mz FSB, 2GB of slow DDR2 800MHz RAM, 160GB HD, Integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics, a simple DVD-ROM (NO capability to even BURN CDs), NO Bluetooth, NO Wireless, NO Firewire, and the most crippled version of a failed OS. This computer is almost non-functional for most uses beyond basic email and slow surfing.
You wanted to upgrade the That Mac Mini comes with a 2.0GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo (P7350), 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, 2GB of fast DDR3 RAM of 1066MHz RAM, 320GB HD, Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of shared DDR3 SDRAM, 8X DVD-RW Dual layer, Bluetooth, Wireless B,G, and N, Gigabit Ethernet, the complete install of OSX. This Mac Mini ($799) plus the Samsung monitor purchased from Dell ($210) plus keyboard and mouse ($50) totals $1059.
What do we find when we bring your POS Windows PC up to specs to meet the Mac Mini with the same monitor?
Upgrade the processor. We have to go with a better processor than the Mac Mini to get the 3MB L2, 1066FSB... but that's OK... 2.93Ghz Intel® Core 2 Duo 2 (E7500). Add $100.
Upgrade the memory to DDR3 1066MHz... oops, we can't, the motherboard on the Vostro doesn't support it, so even though we have a 1066MHz FSB processor, we're stuck with 800Mhz DDR2 at 800MHz. Too bad. bottleneck! It eliminates the speed gain from the 2.93Ghz E7500! Oh well. $0
Upgrade the OS to Vista Ultimate with Windows 7 upgrade, $149.
Upgrade to 320GB HD. Add $55.
Upgrade the DVD-ROM to a 16X DVD-RW dual layer. Add $35.
Add Bluetooth. No option, but we can do it with a USB Bluetooth adapter. Add $19
Add Wireless. Dell 1505 Wireless-N Network PCIe Card. Add $89.
Add Firewire. IEEE 1394 Adapter with Cable. Add $30.
Your cut rate Dell Vostro 220 mini ($774), when we add the Samsung 23" monitor ($210), now comes to a total of $984.
The difference is a mere $75.
However, your Dell does not have any integrated software suites included at that price. The Mac Mini does.
The faster processor on the Dell is outweighed by the much slower RAM it has to use. Speeds will be about the same. Price looks pretty competitive to me.
Yes, I am for real and I think this was a fraudulent come on for clicks. It is merely a claim by a poster that he had found this deal... no proof. Even the POS Dell on this deal may look to some like a good deal... but I think even for Dell it sounded too good to be true. Sometimes Dennis, when something sounds to good to be true, it isn't true, even if its a Dell deal. Had it been a Dell 23" monitor, I would have believed it more... but a Samsung?
You could not be more wrong. You obviously are unfamiliar with gotapex.com
I'll let you know when I see something similar there and you can take a look before it expires....not after it expires
It's hard to check out an expired deal
At gotApex you also see Dell deals where they say "limited to 1000 customers"
So when 1000 customers buy that deal it is finished...expired
Dell has many different ways of pushing their products
GotApex also has deals from HP, Lenovo, Acer and others
When someone needs a computer it is the first place I look
The expired Dell from yesterday came to $530 is half the price of the Apple combo you mention.
Your fail is to keep pushing bells and whistles that Joe average consumer could care less about
He can get along just fine at half the price with the Dell desktop and honkin' LCD monitor
He doesn't need 9400m graphics. Latest Intel graphics are just fine
bluetooth? not needed or get a usb dongle for $10
320gb hard drive? not needed... 250gb will do just fine
P7350 processor? overkill! E5300 will do just fine
So your Apple is a bit less than twice as expensive as the Dell+LCD
Your Apple configuration is overkill
The consumer can get a very good Dell for 55% the Apple price
The Dell is inferior in some respects but none that count for the average consumer
So Dell is still the way to get a more than adequate computer cheaper than Apple
And a Nissan Accent G5 is a more than adequate car that is cheaper than a BMW. They both will get you from point A to point B.
You can also get by eating only at McDonalds...
Now you get it. Nissans are perfectly good automobile. Same as that $530 E5300 Dell+LCD
They are good enuff for 85% of computer users
Apple computers are overkill for most computer users
A popular priced PC will be perfectly adequate and likely 40% cheaper than Apple
You can also get by eating only at McDonalds...
That place will kill you if you eat there every day. Using a Dell E5300 Vostro is not unhealthful
I don't know about that. My blood pressure climbs every time I have to work on a Windows computer.
I get it. You don't. I don't WANT an underpowered, cramped Nissan Accent G5 strippy model that bears more relationship to a go-kart than what I prefer to drive. At 60 years old, I've come to a time in life that I want something more than just transportation... or something that will just barely do computing.
Just as this brand new Dell Inspiron with an Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 in it-that I am in the process of installing for one of my business customers-could never, ever possibly be my main computer, I would never choose to climb into a squeeze-seat mini mobile, and certainly not buy one. I get a headache just looking at the poor quality font display that Windows uses and I get a back ache riding in those tiny mini-cars.
The lack of resizeable data entry Windows in FreeRepublic, something that is of great use on a Mac, is crippling in editing this entry. Even the ability to type an EM Dash from the keyboard is much easier on a Mac.
That is YOU.... You only speak for yourself and a small subset of similarly minded people.
If someone gave me an E5300 Dell with lots of memory (3-4gb) and Windows 7 I would love it! And so would 85% of computer users. That E5300 would be more powerful than the E2180 Intel I have and the Athlon X2 4600 I have
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