Posted on 01/27/2011 3:34:13 AM PST by Swordmaker
THE MAKER OF SHINY TOYS, Apple is starting to see sales of its Macintosh computers stunted by the Ipad.
Market analysts Asymco produced not only evidence that Ipad sales grew massively in the fourth quarter of 2010 but also that a worrying trend is emerging for Apple, in that the sales growth of its Mac computers is falling. Even though its figures suggest otherwise, Asymco claimed that Ipads are in fact not cannibalising Mac sales.
Further data presented by Asymco show that Apple is flogging fewer Ipods, with users opting for Iphones instead. That isn't particularly surprising as industry pundits have been talking about the MP3 player market becoming saturated and eventually declining for many years. However for Apple and its shareholders, news that sales of its once bread and butter line of computers is facing declining growth will start to ring alarm bells.
Apple managed to steal a march on its rivals in the tablet market with the Ipad, but to expect that it will continue to lead the market with the slew of Android devices from big name manufacturers weighing in is presumptuous and risky. Impressive growth in Ipad sales figures won't shock anyone, after all Apple's faithful will gladly spend money on a mobile phone that can't even make phone calls, and few real tablet alternatives existed until the end of 2010. However, the issue of product cannibalisation is an important one for Apple if it wants to retain the image of being a computer company rather than just the purveyor of shiny consumer gadgets.
Although Mac sales are not falling according to Asymco's figures, the stuttering growth is surely a concern for Apple. While it might peddle overpriced gadgets such as the Ipod, Iphone and Ipad, on the whole its range of Imacs and Macbooks offer a good mix of price, performance and of course attractive design.
Maybe Apple doesn't care about its changing public image. There have been signs that Apple has stopped innovating, such as its decision to include relatively minor updates to the Imac, Macbook Air, Mac Mini and Iphone 4. Then of course there also is its Mac Pro, with few words in the English language being adequate to describe the level of insanity one requires to purchase a Mac Pro. So perhaps it is not surprising that even with the fabled fruit logo on the back of its machines, Apple is facing a tough time trying to increase its computer sales.
As fanbois grab the pitchforks, it's important to remember that especially in the case of the Iphone 4, the device is a middling product with a high-end price tag. Software wise, Google's Android OS equals or surpasses Apple's IOS on many fronts, while the impressive yet patronisingly named Retina Display on the Iphone 4 is its only cutting edge hardware feature. For the other Apple products, it's really an open and shut case that they are mediocre hardware that's overpriced. Apple's Imac is still arguably the best all-in-one computer on the market but its design, the barometer of Apple innovation, has changed little in over three years. After years of leaving the Macbook Air alone, the specifications barely changed with Apple's refresh. The same can be said of the Mac Mini, which is also positioned as an Xserve replacement, if one is silly enough to believe Apple's marketing bump.
So is Apple shooting down part of its product line by launching the Ipad? The figures do tend to suggest that when Jobs' Mob releases a major new product such as the Iphone or the Ipad, there is a detrimental effect on its pre-existing products such as the Ipod and the Mac range of computers. This might also explain why Apple was relatively slow in developing a Mac App Store. After all, why would Apple care that Mac sales were being hurt by products that generate cash for the outfit after the original sale?
What Asymco's figures do show is that Apple is clearly turning from being a computer firm into one that just designs shiny consumer electronics. µ
Yep. Kinda like saying McDonalds shoots itself in the foot by selling McRibs, because then people buy fewer Big Macs.
With no print function for the info you just acquired.
I bought my child an Ipad last year as a graduation gift. He is a big Apple enthusiast, but finds the ipad not much more than a toy. It is absolutely useless for any of his college work.
“There have been signs that Apple has stopped innovating”
Yeah, in the last year the only innovations Apple has introduced are the “disruptive technology” iPad everyone is racing to mimic, the Retina Display which renders resolution specs meaningless, Apple TV 2 threatening the cable TV model in a viable format, iPod Nano bringing multitouch to minuscule devices, iPod Touch and MacBook Air making very capable devices super thin, Mac Pro providing 12-core power, FaceTime making portable videophones real and viable, and maybe only a few other things.
Naysayers don’t realize: specs alone don’t matter. It’s what you do with it, and how many people will pay good money for it. $0.3T market cap says Apple is doing something right.
An Apple fan boi toy
“no print function”
Where have you been?
“It is absolutely useless for any of his college work.”
That’s funny.
I use an iPad exclusively to operate the college courses I teach (lectures, grading, discussions, etc.).
Thanks to the anytime/anywhere nature of the iPad, I can teach twice as many classes per semester.
IN my mind if I have to purchase additional hardware to make it print... it lacks a print function.
It sucks as a note taking tool and please give me the list of college textbooks which can be downloaded.
Sorry, the iPad is too thin to accommodate your Centronix parallel print interface.
If you don’t even have a wireless router, you’re kinda missing the point. We’re in 2011; the 20th Century was like over a decade ago. Try to keep up.
Well, is it to damn thin to accommodate a USB port, fanboi.
Funny you say that, because I have known people who never go to McD's, except when they have McRibs. So McRibs increase sales, especially since they get fries and drink at the same time. Likewise, people who would have never bought a Mac are buying iPads. The few who buy iPads instead of Macs are surely offset by the huge number of other iPads sold, plus accessories and apps.
Not quite yet, I don't think. It still needs true 1080p output, the ability to play iTunes files from a network drive without another computer acting as an iTunes client, and some way to economically purchase streaming feeds for live events.
Once it has all of that, I'm pretty much ready to toss the dish.
Sucks to have to buy a printer to be able to print. We should just get that for free, shouldn't we? When I had a parallel printer and bought a computer without a parallel port, only USB, I should have complained that the computer "lacks a print function."
Wireless printers are the way to go now. I just replaced my old HP printer with a Kodak wireless. It's wonderful, I can put it anywhere in the house, away from the kids who raid it for drawing paper. However, we are in the early days. There is no one accepted standard.
Most cable doesn't give you 1080p. Even worse, they often over-compress their HD content to be able to fit more channels without increasing bandwidth. So while it may be HD, the quality still can suck.
the ability to play iTunes files from a network drive without another computer acting as an iTunes client, and some way to economically purchase streaming feeds for live events.
Those would be interesting.
These aren't shortcomings they're features. /sarc
The network drive issue simply boggles my mind that they haven’t implemented yet. What I want to do is put together a RAID 1 NAS for the house to store all “common” files, including media files. As of a couple of weeks ago, I figured I could have twin (mirrored) 2 TB drives and an NAS device for a total outlay of less than $400.
The thinking was that I could put a nice, inexpensive apple TV unit at each TV and ditch the dish once and for all.
By the time I added in a decent OTA antenna, I could probably have the whole job done for less than $800, which I would recoup in less than a year from dropping dish service and replacing with Netflix and OTA.
Good, it sucks on portables. It's a big CPU hog and stability and security risk on desktops as it is.
No Camera
Attribute that to Apple's usual first-generation conservatism. They get a revolutionary product out, then improve it later.
No HDMI Port
Good. Don't need one.
No usb port
Integral in the dock connector. No, I do not believe in putting multiple redundant connectors on a device just because a few users might want each variation.
No memory card slot
I'm on the fence here. On one hand, it simplifies everything immensely vs. internal memory and a card, and I know this from experience having an Android. OTOH, it might be nice to be able to pop in a card with a buch of movies for a trip without having to rearrange the internal content. But in the end it boils down to connector simplicity. You can get an SD card adapter if you need that functionality.
Or shall I point you to the graphics with an iPad with all the connectors to appease everyone? It comes out quite large and ugly.
I use Dropbox for Ipad to store files.
I've been thinking of that too, but building it out of a cheap, low-power computer. That's all a NAS really is, a computer with a bunch of drives and file sharing turned on. But all you need to do is install iTunes on it, and you can stream to all the Apple TVs (tell iTunes you want to organize the files yourself). You can use the Windows media features to stream the exact same files to any Microsoft devices too. The same OS also controls file sharing.
Use a bit more powerful CPU, add a TV card, and you have a DVR as well, all in the same box.
Yeah, maybe. But a dedicated NAS is generally a lot quieter and uses much lower power.
Yea!!! “...apple has stopped innovating.” Let’s hope everybody stops till I can catch up. I just found an Apple 2200 printer, my beloved bought on one of his buying sprees, waaay back in the bottom of a closet. Never out of the box. Floppy disc. No idea what to do with it.
Now that would be a downgrade.
My wife and I are semi-professional photographers. We have a Canon dslr connected to a laptop and send the pictures directly via usb from the camera to the laptop for immediate viewing with Adobe bridge. This permits us to review the image and histogram and make any necessary adjustments on the fly. So, A USB port does a whole lot more than connect to a printer. Of course, we could ask all camera manufacturers topa a license fee to Apple and build a clunky connector on their cameras, but somehow I don't thin Cannon and Nikon are going to go that route.
When the Ipad adds this kind of functionality, it will be a tool. until then it isn't much more than an Itouch with a big screen.
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