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Apple Plans to Grow to $10 Billion
mattmcal writes "Fred Anderson, CFO of Apple, this week outlined Apple's strategy for returning to its former self as a $10 billion company. He cited portability, digital lifestyle, and music as the three pimary drivers of this new strategy. Anderson announced last month that he plans to retire June 1 of this year."
One of Apple's major strengths lies in its design and ease of use, which isn't so much different from Microsoft, but from the majority of the open source world. Apple couples these two design principles, ease of use and configurability, with their OS and also their other products, so their products are very appealing to many customers, especially designers, drawers, and graphic people.
In the near future, I believe there are going to be more and more of such jobs, and so Apple plays a large role in the IT field. I think the $10 billion limit can be reached.
"Until you do what you believe in, how do you know whether you believe in it or not?" -- Leo Tolstoy
I think it's looking pretty optimistic for apple at this point....the ipod has helped people realize that paying a premium for an excellent piece of industrial design just might be worth it after all, the same mentality mac users have had for a while now.
This looks like unfair moderation to me, but since I have no mod points I can't correct the wrong :-(. It's troll-like, I suppose, but also a fair question.
That being said, from about 8b in revenues to 10b doesn't seem like that much of a stretch, and probably isn't enough to significantly impact the share price, which has remained within its normal range.
D
...The technical trainers.
During the "good ole days" (1998-2001) when dot-com money was fluid, training centers were handing out MCSE cert training and testing and getting better than $2000 or even $3000 for it. Now, I doubt many people care as they saw what it bought them.
Enter Apple growing market share. Companies will still need someone to show the secretary how to use the Dock. It isn't that it's difficult to use, it's that she just doesn't have the self confidence that she's doing it right.
The winner (besides our favorite produce supplier) is the training company that now has a service someone will buy.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Step 1: Press and hold the Play/Pause button for 5 seconds to turn the iPod off.
Step 2: RTFM!!!
Step 3: Gently press any button to turn it back on.
"Apple's only hope for such great growth, really ,is iMusic."
Thats a reaching statement considering the fact that they dont yet make such a product.
"That is the only thing they have that is truly competitive."
Apple makes iMusic? Never heard of it.
"The iPod bubble will burst as soon as someone comes out with something similar"
There are already plenty of knock-offs.... with similar features yet non have knocked apple off its high point.
"but with a battery hatch"
This would be an important feature if the iPod's battery was non replaceable (it is) and if the iPod battery was unreliable. (It's not)
and missing controls (like on/off switch)."
It doesn't need an on off switch. It turns off by itself.
"Likely it will cost half as much."
So, you're suggesting that this hypotheticvall competitor will ADD more and yet cost half that which Apple charges. HAH!
"Apple's desktop machine bubble already burst:"
Could have foold me. Their desktop business is doing very well.
"the Mac's appeal only to a tiny niche market"
Apple computer users make up between 10-12% of the computing market. That's hardly a tiny market by any stretch of the imagination.
You must be thinking in terms of "market share" rather than "install base". Apple's "market share" is small not because people aren't buying their computers or even because people are bying them less frequently than before. (Quite the contrary). Rather, PC users are replacing their existing machines twice as freequently. (Less longevity). Because "market share" is solely determined by quarterly or annual sales figures the "market share" number will be low while the user base continues to grow.
"which will not grow unless Apple does such things as drop the price"
I don't see how Apple could drop the price much more. They're already priced the same if not lower then PCs of comperable specs.
"and mass-market the thing."
They do this already.
A better strategy might be to simply educate the masses about business in general. If your post is an indicator or the average PC user... i'd say its an absolute necessity.
Various companies such as the major Linux distro producers, those shareware disk copier companies back in the pre-Internet early-nineties, and even proprietary vendors such as Sun and Apple "sell" copies of Emacs in some shape or form.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
(Sorry posted in html rather than plain text) here it is again... properly formatted
,is iMusic."
"Apple's only hope for such great growth, really
Thats a reaching statement considering the fact that they dont yet make such a product.
"That is the only thing they have that is truly competitive."
Apple makes iMusic? Never heard of it.
"The iPod bubble will burst as soon as someone comes out with something similar"
There are already plenty of knock-offs.... with similar features yet non have knocked apple off its high point.
"but with a battery hatch"
This would be an important feature if the iPod's battery was non replaceable (it is) and if the iPod battery was unreliable. (It's not)
and missing controls (like on/off switch)."
It doesn't need an on off switch. It turns off by itself.
"Likely it will cost half as much."
So, you're suggesting that this hypotheticvall competitor will ADD more and yet cost half that which Apple charges. HAH!
"Apple's desktop machine bubble already burst:"
Could have foold me. Their desktop business is doing very well.
"the Mac's appeal only to a tiny niche market"
Apple computer users make up between 10-12% of the computing market. That's hardly a tiny market by any stretch of the imagination.
You must be thinking in terms of "market share" rather than "install base". Apple's "market share" is small not because people aren't buying their computers or even because people are bying them less frequently than before. (Quite the contrary). Rather, PC users are replacing their existing machines twice as freequently. (Less longevity). Because "market share" is solely determined by quarterly or annual sales figures the "market share" number will be low while the user base continues to grow.
"which will not grow unless Apple does such things as drop the price"
I don't see how Apple could drop the price much more. They're already priced the same if not lower then PCs of comperable specs.
"and mass-market the thing."
They do this already.
A better strategy might be to simply educate the masses about business in general. If your post is an indicator or the average PC user... i'd say its an absolute necessity.
The margins are not as much as the average outraged x86 geek makes them out to be. From what I've heard, they make as much on an iPod as on an iMac. Don't forget they have to plow a lot into R&D, whereas Dell just has to order the latest chipset and case from Taiwan and load whatever MS is offering at the time and sell them together.
My hope is the next revision or two of the G5 desktop takes off like crazy, as their power and speeds will more closely match the x86 market. Motorola's inability to ramp up the G4 series fast enough was a serious blow to sales, I'm sure.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Look, Apple has a long history of crippling it's lowend models in order to attract people to the high-margin gear -- going all the way back to the LC model. The few times they've broken from this strategy (6500, original iMac), they've actually increased sales. But when it comes right down to it, Apple nearly always goes for profit over marketshare.
Just look at any PC vendor. If you want the fastest Pentium 4, or you want the best graphics card, or you even want a couple of pathetic PCI slots, you aren't forced to purchase the most expensive dual-processor workstation.
Another good example is the iBook's lack of a PC Card slot. Every single PC notebook in the same category has one, and it's a deal-breaker for some customers (like myself).
You could make that argument, but you'd be just like the people claiming Apple was dying when they had three times the revenues of microsoft!
Literally, people have been claiming this in the press and online for about 20 years. (Yes, "online" did exist 20 years ago.)
All the unix geeks I know are getting apple laptops, or want to. The transition to Unix is even more significant than the PowerPC transition, in my mind, because it paves the way for everybody but Microsoft to be using the same OS, which easy transportability of applications, and thus much more collective Unix market share.
Apple has been hampered by Motorola, but hopefully IBM will be more energetic in keeping the processors up to standard...
I do not think the Mac market is dying at all...
Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23
>>>"As is to be expected, not all things work as planned"
That's a nice spin on "busted the thing just trying to get to the battery". Better-designed devices for a fraction of the cost have a hatch, or from 2 to 4 screws.
That's a nice spin on a device that is designed so well that the battery is intended to last the entire life of the product... as the iPod does in the vast majority of the time.
"Does this warranty cover opening the thing?"
Not sure... though that is not even necessary. If anything should go wrong with your iPod during its warrenty period an individual need only call Apple, they'll ship you a padded box the following day to mail them the iPod, they will send someone to pick it up, next-day deliever it to Apple where they will fix it that day, then next day it back to you.
Apple's warrenty service is EXCELLENT.
Just be glad Apple is offering a reduced-price repair price for those iPods where one of the non-servicable parts can be replaced out of warranty. Because that's what the battery is.
Given the choice, I'd rather have a well designed machine with a battery designed to last years, than a poorly designed machine with a replacable battery that lasts months. Obviously, YMMV.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
"The company lacks a grasp of certain basics of friendly user-interfaces for gadgets."
I would say the exact opposite. You turn the iPod on by touching any of the four buttons on the front (or the scroll wheen button), and turn it off in the same way by holding play.
The iPod has six buttons on its front surface (the trackwheel and select are two buttons.
None of these buttons has any moving parts - it's all touch sensitive. No mechanical parts to break down during use. The only mechanical switch on the whole unit is the hold switch on the top by the headphone socket.
Apple's buttons are big and easy to press. I don't have big hands by any stretch of the imagination, but I hate hate hate the current trend of manufactuers to put smaller smaller fiddly buttons on their products. You need a matchstick to press the keys on some cellphones nowadays.
I fear for the day when I dial a number on my phone and I press all the keys together and the Simpsons quote will come to mind:
"I'm sorry, your fingers are too fat to dial this number. If you would like to order a complimentary dialing wand please mash the keypad angrily now"
Or something like that.
Apple's large buttons are a joy to use, and the interface (from the way the buttons work, to the way the menus on screen work) is second to none.
Lacking a grasp of friendly user interfaces? Bollocks! It's beautifully designed from a UI perspective.
Really, I've dealt with Apple, Compaq, HP, and IBM products in the past two years and Apple's 'problem' rate is as low or lower than the next guy's, the problem is that when an Apple laptop has a minor issue (like 'white spots') the whole community bitches about it.
When an IBM laptop exhibits a problem there's no 'community' to coagulate into a problem in the first place.
The G5 is a stunningly quiet machine compared to the Dell P4 machine's we've got at my current site, but Mac users still bitch about it being so much louder than their fanless iMac when they hover around the water cooler. The PC users here just shut up and take what they get and don't complain.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
That doesn't make sense; people buy Macs for their cool industrial design and software. Windows on an IBM-made G5 processor machine isn't going to be very helpful in either department.
D
Do you actually know that, and if so, how'd you find out?
Apple's great because they have some of the best-loved products on the planet. And I think the success of Slashdot's Apple section reflects that.
If Rob was bribed with a PowerBook, it certainly paid off well for everyone, including us as readers.
D
Apple didn't make the copyright laws that essentially force them to negotiate for separate licensing/distribution rights in every friggin' country they want to set up the iTMS.
Trust me, if it wasn't for the record companies, iTMS would have been global from day one. Every day they're not able to sell DRM'd AAC somewhere is another day that shit-ass WMA has to entrench itself there.
Apple has yet to solve the battery problem.
/. has yet to solve the village idiot AC troll problem.
Yeah, and
It's been years now and still no iTunes Music Store...
The record labels are the ones dragging their feet on this one. Aparently, citizens in EU (or Canada) cannot be trusted as much as their US counter parts. So if you want iTMS, go bitch at the folks who have the copyrights locked up.
What exactly would you need the PC Card slot for? Modem? Ethernet? Firewire? USB? WiFi?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
It's not a giant conspiracy, it's sensible regulation of costs. Is there much point in building an iPod where the battery lasts a hundred years, and costs $5,000, but the screen only lasts for two?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Right, cause that powerpc version of NT 3.51 was such a roaring success, yeah?
Out of the problems I mentioned, my 15" PB is sufferring from the creaking hinges, the darkened right side and the infamous white spots.
I don't consider any of those issues to be minor or 'overrated'. Sure, Apple is fixing the white spots, but dammit, I bought this PB to use, not to send right back to Apple. My point is that this stuff shouldn't get to customers. How is that a problem? Now it's going to cost Apple zillions to fix them and ship them, not to mention damage to their reputation.
When IBM drives started failing left and right, you can be sure 'a community' sprung up around that issue. That did more to harm IBM's reputation than anything else I can think of, even after they admitted it.
As far as advertising goes - average Joe thinks exactly that about Macs. Please point out anything that Apple has done beyond their website and keynote addresses to counter that impression. I know, I've recommended macs to alot of people - and those are the responses I get.
I'd appreciate replies, rather than kneejerk moderation. Educate me. Tell me how my new laptop doesn't have white spots, a dark area, and sounds like it's breaking everytime I open it. Or you can just mod this down, and go take your 'Apple is God' shirt out of the dryer.