Apple - What A Difference Eight Years Can Make

conq writes "It's been eight years since Michael Dell was asked after a speech at a Gartner conference in Orlando what he would do if he were in charge of Apple Computer. His answer: Shut the company down and give the money back to shareholders. BusinessWeek in its new Byte of The Apple Blog looks at how the tables have turned since then. For example, over the last four quarters Dell has been coming in with a net profit margin of about 6.5%. Meanwhile Apple just finished its fiscal 2005 with a profit margin just shy of 9.6%."

Comments

Re:Michael Dell is really crying

[Golias]

As a wise man once said to me about allowing investors in my company, "Would your rather have all of a grape or a slice of watermelon?"

If your slice of the watermelon is smaller than a grape, his advice is useless.

Re:Michael Dell is really crying

[Sulihin]

I'm allergic to watermelon!

Re:More accurate metaphor...

[DJCacophony]

I think the more accurate way to put that would be "Would you rather have a grape on your table, or a watermelon vine, since a watermelon vine will last a long time (because you can upgrade a pc), but the only way for an apple to grow is to throw more money (a lot more) at it.