Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple Should Get Out of Hardware?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-there's-no-market-there-of-course dept.

SQLGuru writes to mention an analyst recommendation being reported on ZDNet. Despite a BusinessWeek article about Apple's record breaking hardware sales, the folks at Gartner think Apple should get out of the hardware business. Calling for the company to license its hardware to Dell, the analyst company says that gains in Apple's hardware sales are simply not sustainable. From the article: "Apple's margins for its Mac business, currently around 40 percent, are only sustainable because component makers such as Intel choose to prop up the business, Gartner claimed. Given that HP has forced Intel to offer it comparable pricing to Dell, Intel is unlikely to continue to subsidise Apple, the analyst argues. 'As a result of permanently changed market conditions, Intel has been forced to restructure and, in our opinion, cannot go on supporting Apple (or any other customer) indefinitely.'"

5 of 730 comments (clear)

  1. For the record... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Apple makes wonderful machines that work. Dell makes crap. Enough said.

    1. Re:For the record... by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      Take a look at Consumer Reports for the last 5 years. Apple is one of the best for support, not the worst.

      This is based on customer surveys, not reality. People remember what they want to remember and I think that this thread has, if anything, established that Apple users are more willing than average to forgive and forget their favorite company's flaws. Mac users don't want to be educated, either. They fear change. Granted, I am making a sweeping generalization here that does not apply to the latest generation of apple users, the Unix nerds who worship eye candy. But seriously, the classic profile of the mac user is that they don't know how to use any other computer and are afraid to learn. Even when you get them to sit down in front of something else, they expect it to behave like their mac and don't listen to you explain things to them. I know this is all anecdotal but I've dealt with enough of them to have formed a very clear prejudice - er, I mean picture - of what they are like.

      But again, I do realize that not everyone is the same and the average mac user is sliding more towards the technical since lots of Unix types got suckered into using a system with lots of proprietary pieces. I mean, just when Linux and *BSD were getting us away from that kind of thing.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. I can hear the Apple Fanboi's screaming now by MSFanBoi2 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    They are coming to flood Slashdot with all kinds of comments.

    I for one agree. There really is no difference between a Mac and any PC now. It's all the same hardware in a slightly fancier case that costs you a bit more than a not so fancy case.

    Right now Apple's hardware is really limiting as it does not have near the flexibility for a BIY or allowing for a good margin of tweaking.

  3. Actually... by neiras · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    I'd take a Dell Latitude over a Macbook any day.

    I like having two buttons on my touchpad. I like my Thinkpad-style pointing stick. I like my smartcard reader. I like my fingerprint reader. I *really* like my docking station. Being able to swap my DVD writer out for a second battery on long flights is awesome. There's in-hardware theft tracking too. Oh, and I have an ambient-light sensor to automatically adjust screen brightness, just like the Mac. No glowing keyboard, but I tend to work in well-lit rooms.

    Current-generation Dell laptops have a slick, understated aesthetic. They don't scream LOOK AT ME I AM MISUNDERSTOOD BUT SECRETLY BRILLIANT AND SEXY AND OWN AN IPOD AND LIKE EMO JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, but they are really nice. There's no flashing-blue-light-overload (I'm looking at you, HP), no shiny scratch-magnet surfaces, and no glowing corporate logo on the hood.

    A judicious use of the sugar cube technique to remove the extra logos would make Dell hardware a good choice for people who don't identify with meaningless, corporate, glowing-fruit branding.

  4. Re:Smaller builders are helpful by MogNuts · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Please stop spreading lies and myths.

    1) Apple uses the same components as every other vendor

    2) "Superior" apple quality: frequent random shutdowns (macbook), clear overheating issues (macbook pro), viruses in I-Pods, discolorations (macbook), cracking and overall poor assembly (apple cube), software incompatibility (apps breaking from OSX 10.3 - 10.4; software should still be usable only 2 years later)

    3) The old analogy to cars: if Apple really was a Ferrari, it would be an "Apple F430" with a 4 cylinder engine and $50 all season tires, yet STILL priced at $180,000. To get anything even remotely more powerful, forget it. You cannot replace the tires or the engine (or even add a turbo- or super-charger). You must spend $600,000 on the "Apple Enzo." Meanwhile, the "Dell Carerra S" has Goodyear Eagle F1's, a 355 BHP flat-6, and does 0-60 in 4.3 for $90,000 (still cheaper than the "Apple F430" and blows it out of the water). More importantly, in daily driving, it does 9/10ths what it's $600,000 brother the carerra GT can do. Macs do not give you choice. I'm surprised that many Slashdot users love them, considering its users value choice and openness so much.

    4) Properly designed. Please. Maybe aside from raw looks, I have an *old* (by today's standards) Dell D800 that is better designed. It is made to be especially durable; it has been to hell and back and still looks new. It includes every port you can think of (firewire, vga-out, s-video, pc card slots, 4 usb slots, etc). It runs very cool *ahem* (MBP). That is properly designed. But wait, it's a Dell *gasp*! And I love how people drool over the mac pro and its great design, when the Dell Precision series seriously wipes the floor with it. In addition, if you are a savvy consumer (note I said consumer, you don't even have to be a true geek--you can go to the 690, 490, etc. pages, and compare to see which is the cheapest even if you're not an extremely educated user) and get a Precision *cheaper* than the mac pro (unlike what many have been reading lately). And what is more, Dell clearly has the better design. They *truly* took into account (compared to a Mac Pro) the "workstation class" computer:
            The Mac Pro comes with capabilites only to go to 16 GB RAM. The max one can get is a dreadful 7200 RPM hard drive. 2 TB of space you say! Whoop-de-do. The Precision 690s (which are properly designed) can have up to *5* hard drives at 750 GB each and you can even get 10,000 RPM drives. You can even (drool) get 15,000 RPM SAS hard drives. One of the computer's biggest bottlenecks is the hard drive (moreso than most things). A 15,000 RPM SAS HD would alone would *destroy* the Mac Pro. Also, never mind you can also get DUAL SLI Nvidia Quadros FX4500s (Mac Pro can only have 1) or FireGLs (none at all for the Mac Pro) and up to *64* GB RAM. There is even the option to have 1KW power supplies for all this power (MORE proper design). Oh, and don't forget you can output up to 4 monitors, not 2 like the mac pro.

    Please do not fuel the lies than Macs are made are of superior -design- or -quality-.