Apple vs. Dell
This news sent Apple stock rising:
Sales of Apple Inc.’s Mac line of personal computers saw year-over-year growth accelerate over 100 percent during the month of January, with revenue growth rising even further, according to Pacific Crest Securities.In a brief research note distributed to clients on Thursday, the firm cited NPD market research data which implies that year-over-year growth in Mac unit sales accelerated in January to 101 percent, up from 55 percent in December.
Meanwhile, a rise in the average selling price (ASPs) of Macs is reported to have driven even greater year-over-year dollar sales growth of 108 percent during the same time period, again, up from 55 percent in December. …
Hargreaves said that sales of Mac notebooks grew 194 percent year-over-year in January with a rising ASP that drove 221 percent revenue growth in the segment.
“January was the third-largest revenue month for Mac notebooks ever,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dell stocks tumbled at this news:
Dell reported a 33 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits, slightly ahead of expectations. But the No. 2 PC maker’s sales figures came in below estimates, and Dell warned that growth and profit margins will remain “under pressure” for the next few quarters.Shares of Dell … fell 2 percent in after-hours trading on the news. …
“Both desktop and notebook sales looked weak,” said Bill Fearnley Jr., an analyst with FTN Midwest. “The notebook number was especially anemic given the overall strength in the category.”
This does not overly surprise me. Even though this is completely local and anecdotal, my workplace has been undergoing a Mac tidal wave. When I first came here in 1998, I was the only one in the building who owned a Mac. That continued for years, but recently it seems that everyone is getting a Mac. Out of the full-time faculty, 5 of the 7 have Macs (two bought in the past few months), and one more is on the verge of buying. A part-time member just bought a Mac a few days ago, and four or five of my students have also bought Macs.
Like I said, completely local and anecdotal. And yes, I do work in education. And yet, it does represent a significant change from the recent past, and I think it does demonstrate how the Mac has new appeal, especially due to the ability to run Windows.
Just a year and a month ago I was studying for my bar exam at Washington University’s main library in St. Louis. Roughly half the student’s had Mac notebooks.
I don’t know if this is good or bad. If Mac achieve a critical mass, will they become the object of virus attacks? Or are Mac os so well designed that they are less vulnerable? I don’t know I am just asking. Please respond.
Because of my geek friends, I rarely use MS I-net Explorer, but instead use firefox. They told me that would reduce my exposure to viruses by 80%. Then they told me if I used common sense in the sites that I choose to visit, I probably don’t need antivirus soft ware either. My Geek friend tells me he has never installed it on his machine and he is a power user – he doesn’t work and can be on-line playing games for days in a row.
Luis, if you get a chance, please touch on the consequences of what would happen if Mac’s became dominant in the market place (say greater than or equal to 40%) in major markets.
Also are they in every major market? I am in Korea and so I don’t see any macs here, so for now I am better off with out one. Macs are big in the U.S. and growing in Japan, but what about Europe, India, Korea, etc….?