Comments on: Apple drops to No. 5 in laptop sales--are cheaper MacBooks the answer?

According to market "intelligence firm" IDC, Apple has dropped from the No. 4 purveyor of laptops last year to No. 5 this spring.

[iOakley]

The data for PC's include netbooks which is really a sub category of Notebooks. Dell and company, continue to make garbage waste. I prefer cutting edge products over plastic crap. I do have an aspire for getting some work done in tight workspaces, but i'll switch to the mac net book as soon as its for sale.

[k1m0d0]

If your are going to include netbooks in your count there is a case to be made for including iphones, ipod touch players and the like. If people in the main are sending/checking email and surfing the web, why not have something you can put in your pocket. Netbooks as they are configured today have all the ingredients to become extinct. They are underpowered and have razor thin profit margins. Contrary to popular belief, you can't make it up with volume.

[i_made_this]

Could they? Sure - dumb down the Mac Mini by switching to the dirt cheap Atom chip, add a low cost monitor and flog it for $399 like everyone else. Will they? Nah - chasing dumb tech fads isn't Apple's style. My guess is they won't give the *netbook* market a second thought because it's far too oversupplied in a market with far too little demand already - yet another one trick pony brought to us by the folks at Intel who had to unload those Atom chips somewhere.

Apple has a glaring hole in their product line - and a nice niche they could consider filling. We priced a desktop at the Apple store yesterday. Our only specification to the saleslady was that we "need a pretty fast CPU to support a good quality dedicated graphics card with at least 512 MB vRAM like the Nvidia GTX 275 or ATI 4870. We don't want any programs pre-installed except the operating system. And we don't have the money for a Mac Pro."

She suggested the least expensive desktop fitting our requirement would be the Apple iMac with a 24" monitor, Intel C2D E7500 @ 2.93GHz, ATi Radeon HD 4850 with 512 MB vRAM, 4GB RAM DDR3, 1 TB HDD @ 7200rpm, CD DVD drive, mouse, keyboard, no programs except the OS X. This is custom-built ("our highest end graphics card"), not stock, so it would take about a week to ship. $2,099.00 without shipping and taxes. "Not bad. But what's making it so expensive?" The 24" monitor, basically. Not the card which is only $200 more than the stock Nvidia GT 120 w/ 256 MB vRAM. "Can't we get this without a monitor or in a smaller size than 24"? No to both, sorry.

I sensed this was Apple-speak for "iMac's aren't really desktops - they're a small form factor laptop attached to the back of outsized monitors." Maybe if Apple wanted to add real desktops without the requirement of a monitor to their product line and shoved all that good stuff into a mid or full sized tower, they could conceivably offer the product out starting at $999 up to about $1,799. It would neither cannibalize sales of the Mac Pro line nor the iMac line. It'd be attractive to customers who like good quality hardware in a mid or full size tower that makes hardware upgrades a breeze. Just an idea.

[shevaberg]

yes xerox made the graphic interface... but didnt want anything to do with it... like we have had 4 wheel cars for 100 years now... GET OVER IT.. and APPLE stole the interface first from xerox... but it is amazing how MS actualy got to to do something.. :)

[Oahu808]

Looks like all the Apple haters including IDC can eat CROW!!!!

IDC was basing these made up numbers on "analysis" that showed Apple PC shipments would drop -12% YOY, while in FACT they just increased +4%

Everyone was reposting IDC as gospel.... now you all get to EAT CROW...

[EvanSei]

this doesn't surprise me macs are great computers but are overpriced. pc's are better for school anyways, less people waiting for you to turn the other way so they can steal it :)

[steve4lee]

Looking at the chart, it seems the most obvious interpretation is that Acer and Toshiba gained market share mostly from Dell.

But I guess turning it into an Apple story gets more hits.

[H00L1GAN]

Well, pretty much anything I can think of to be said seems to have been said already, so... I'll just do it anyway. Netbooks should be included in the report. Taking out netbooks would be like taking Smart cars our of similar report run on cars. Same basic technology and form factor, just scaled down on peripherals. Most people just surf the internet and check e-mail anyhow. iPhones and ipods are left out because they would be like motorcycles and go-carts. Different technologies, different form factor, different "intent" of use.
Oh, and about the profitability of netbooks over Mac's. Sure a Mac costs 3 -4 times more and one Mac sale negates that many netbook sales. However, anythink about the cost of manufacturing the Mac chassis? The cost of Apple paying those workers for assemblage? Netbooks are dirt cheap because they are just that... Dirt Cheap. I wouldn't be so sure about how much Apple profits just because their wares are more expensive especially if they have lost sales. There are car companies (yes, another car analogy) that build million-dollar supercars; does anyone think they rake in more than Toyota or Honda?
It's generally about bang for the buck. Supply vs. Demand. In this economic downturn though, it's about, "Oh good, I can get this and still feed my family this week, or I can just get an Apple." Apple will continue to lose this one if they dont come down in price some. A decently priced tablet (if it ever comes out anytime soon) can give them a big boost in the mobile PC market, but really... I think it's a horrible idea. I prefer being able to see the screen when I'm typing, the whole screen. It's one reason why I won't buy an iPhone, over one of the phones with a physical qwerty. So, certainly not a tablet either. But that's my opinion.

[H00L1GAN]

EDIT:

"... anyone think..."