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Competition For the App Store Is Mounting
MojoKid writes "Right now the only real 'competition' to Apple's App Store is the Android Market. Presently, anyone using an Android-based phone can download applications from the Android Market, which first started offering free applications in October '08. A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1. However, in the coming months we're also going to see more app stores come online for additional smartphone platforms. Nokia will officially launch an app store for its Symbian OS-based smartphones at Mobile World Congress on Monday. Microsoft is also getting in the game for smartphones that run the Windows Mobile OS, with Steve Ballmer delivering the keynote speech at Mobile World Congress as well."
The company I work for launched a public beta of our third-party app store this week, called Xpressed (the site is brand new, so feedback is welcome). Unlike the app stores mentioned in this article, it's a true "third-party" app store meaning that we're unaffiliated with any device manufacturer or carrier, and so we plan to support any and all phones out on the market that allow applications to be downloaded and installed from non-proprietary websites. Right now this pretty much means most of the Java-based phones on the market (several hundred current phones, plus the hundreds more old and obsolete devices).
It will be interesting to see which model wins out after all of the industry players have their say in this growing application space - whether manufacturer-supported app stores (presumably) integrated with the devices themselves will continue to dominate, or whether third-party app stores like Xpressed will be able to find a footing, especially among developers targeting their apps across multiple platforms.
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
No, there's only one iPhone too... the drawback is that no one wants a G1, because it's a cheep plasticy lump of crap.
And how long before the malware stores pop up for the unsuspecting?
That's at least one benefit to a manufacturer run app store.
The company announced some months ago its own version of the App Store for BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Application StoreFront
I can see MS making an app store, but the rub is to get people to be using Windows Mobile based smartphones. So, the key is to get Nokia, LG, and other cellphone makers who are using JVMs on their low end phones to move to WM as the OS of choice. These are the cellphones that people obtain for free with a one or two year service contract, such as Motorola RAZRs. The trick is to get the phones out there in volume. I don't know if this can be done, though.
Once WM is very common, as opposed to now where it pretty much is in a limited selection of phones, both Microsoft, and the WM app makers would benefit. Windows Mobile is a decent platform to write code on. It does require signed code for smartphones for the most part (less with PocketPC devices), but app makers can buy their own certificates and do the distribution themselves.
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianOnFreeRunner
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
I have been happy with my BlackBerry for years, and no, I have not been tempted by iPhone. As Android phones come of age and become competitive, however, I'm sure I'll give them a look.
I don't really have a dog in this fight - my brother owns an iPod Touch and I have a Blackberry Curve - but it doesn't seem to me that there's much competition on any front for Apple's App Store. For most of the smart phones I wouldn't even consider buying software (I don't think my Curve delivers an experience that I want - I would rather use other portable devices to do what software could do).
The one thing that may be able to mount a challenge is the DSi's app store - but here in Japan where the DSi is already out, I am not really getting the impression that it is a must have feature.
Until someone is even mildly successful in the area, no one competition is really "mounting" for the app store.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
There is only one iPhone, but App developers haven't stopped producing. I like the G1 better than the iPhone since it includes a slide-out keyboard and still packs in all the other features of an iPhone. Once the G1 has been around for longer and Android gets more market share I expect the Android Market to go head to head with the App Store.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. -Benjamin Franklin
The freerunner has issues. A friend of mine has one and the most notable thing is I can barely hear him because of the interference it causes/picks up permanantly.
Who need's speling and grammar?
The iPhone jailbreak process installs Cydia, which is a GUI frontend for aptitude, which was ported to the platform by Jay (Gordon) Freeman. Once Cydia's installed, you can install Terminal.app to have a command prompt and 'apt-get' to your heart's desire.
Usually it's not so much the 'scraps' left behind by Apple as the groups that either dislike Apple, or have such a hardon for open-source software and standards that they won't succumb to it.
For instance, whenever asking someone why they have X brand audio device instead of Apple, the answer is "Apple is too expensive", "it doesn't play OGG", "Apple sucks".. Sure, Apple likes to maintain tight control on everything they sell. Sure, Apple likes profits, but who doesn't these days?
Once Apple realises that they can make even more money and have greater market share by reducing prices (maybe drop the price of every computer by $1000, and every audio device/phone by $200), then their marketing will be that much more effective. The problem with Apple vs. Microsoft is justifying spending $2000 on an OS. That's all you're doing. Any Apple machine can be found in Microsoft land with similar specs for 1/4th the cost.
and will fail, because, unlike iPhone, there are no support of that app store in current firmwares.
That's all you're doing. Any Apple machine can be found in Microsoft land with similar specs for 1/4th the cost.
Show me another machine with the specs of the MBP that is as thin and cool.
Apple has many flaws, but they do make some nice hardware.
With that said, the low-end Apple machines are overpriced, but the high-end machines are priced about right for their functionality.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"Outside the US, it it just a matter of time before Symbian and other platforms join PalmOS as interesting historical tidbits."
Ever seen some sales figures? Symbian currently is the OS on around 50% of all 'phones sold (and 40% of all smart phones) around the world. Thats more than the nearest 4 competitors combined (and that includes apple).
The US market is very limited and isolated in some senses because US patent laws restrict what can be sold in the US. In the free world we have the ability to buy 'phones which offer equivalent functionality and not pick 'phones based on who has the most patents.
Al Sutton
Did Ballmer throw any wheelchairs?
I was mostly referring to desktop or server hardware, but notebook-wise, it's still a huge rip-off. Here are two alternatives:
It's not 1/4th the price, but it is also not $2799; How about the Voodoo Envy? Or the Dell Studio ($799 CAD)?
If by "thin and cool", you mean "trendy fashion statement that runs OS X", then no, these machines are not for you.. I mean, they might run OS X. But if you meant a machine that has a favourable price per performance ratio, forget the MBP. It's just not worth it.
If you don't mind using a 15.4" LCD instead of 17", the Lenovo T61p is a nice machine (Oh, and it includes firewire!)
The Android store and the App Store at the moment serve two different markets. Android phone users and IPhone users. The store that the user would choose is determined by the phone in posession. Since neither store can offer anything to users of the other kind of phone the title is misleading, or at least premature.
It's not 1/4th the price, but it is also not $2799; How about the Voodoo Envy? Or the Dell Studio ($799 CAD)?
If by "thin and cool", you mean "trendy fashion statement that runs OS X", then no, these machines are not for you.
Let's leave the ill-defined "cool" out of it, and just go with the first two-thirds of the AC's request:
"Show me another machine with the specs of the MBP that is as thin..."
The Voodoo Envy 133 is a 13.3" laptop, which makes it more of a would-be competitor for the MacBook Air, not the MacBook Pro.
The Dell Studio 17" ranges from 1.18" (30mm) to 1.69" (43mm) thick, compared to the 17" MacBook Pro's 0.98" (25mm), and starts off more than a pound heavier.
So you suggested a system that clearly doesn't have anything resembling the specs of the MBP, and one that clearly isn't as thin... did you misunderstand his request? ;)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
How about the Voodoo Envy?
I don't know, they don't seem to have a picture of it. Does it exist?
Or the Dell Studio ($799 CAD)?
Genuine Windows Vista® operating system
Seriously, though, that thing is as huge and thick as my HP/Compaq Mobile Workstation. The MBP is slim. You have failed to read or perhaps just to understand my comment. Please try harder.
If by "thin and cool", you mean "trendy fashion statement that runs OS X", then no, these machines are not for you..
I don't much care about OSX, although I won't run Vista. But by "thin and cool" I meant physically. The MBP generates less heat than my laptop (less graphics, to be fair, but even I don't need a quadro) and is WAY WAY THINNER and gets WAY BETTER BATTERY LIFE and oh by the way is MORE DURABLE. My machine has the same specs as a first-gen MBP, but it's no fucking Apple.
Apple has made their share of shit hardware, and in the 68k days I messed around with them for a while, then threw up my hands in disgust and went with PCs. Now Apple makes PCs, and they make nice ones. They are not more expensive than other machines like them, because there are no other machines like them. And you may claim that wanting a thinner, lighter laptop is a cosmetic decision, but you're wrong. It also takes up less space in a bag meaning you have to carry less shit. Also, many of the PC laptops (including my Lemonesque nw9440 which HP is finally replacing with a 8730w) that are actually as capable really should never be run without their dock or a stand as they produce too much heat. Finally, FW800 FTW!
Lenovo has been ratcheting back quality since the IBM handoff, and I don't think I'd actually buy their shit now (not that I would buy an HP, either.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Apple's biggest cock-up is restricting carrier choice. I own an iPod touch and the platform is excellent, I'd love to have an iPhone but the UK Operator 02 has notoriously bad reception in my area. For business use we have established contracts and call rates as well as supporting infrastructure to reduce the cost of our calls from office to mobile. We are not going to change all that simply to get a new phone. We pay around £300 for our SmartPhones, hardware cost is not really the issue.
Jason
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
You mean as opposed to the several dozen different phones Apple has on the market? Way to end a horribly fragmented run-on sentence with a cringe inducing logical fallacy, buddy.
Just to clarify, I'm not anti-Apple; I'm anti-Jobs. His wishes to keep Apple extremely exclusive are what is killing the company. I have an iPhone. I don't see how anyone could use the device if it weren't jailbroken due to the number of things you can't do with it (On the iPhoneOS vs. Android issue: who gives a damn?) due to Apple's restrictiveness. You can't even sync an iPod Touch or iPhone using Linux anymore unless you jailbreak, SSH in, and change a config file to revert to an old DB version that doesn't have their hash check.
Back to the topic though, the iPhone would be awesome, and certainly less made fun of, if Apple would get off of their high horse about their products.. But the customer attitudes probably fuel this.
The reason why the App Store has taken off so phenomenally is because they handle commercial applications. This means that any geek who can knock together a mobile application is tempted to do so by potential profits. Think about it, write an app, get it approved, and then instantly make it available to millions of iPhone users who are only a click away from paying you. That's a huge advantage for Apple - because those geeks will be writing their applications for the iPhone and not the other platforms. This is why there are so many applications for the iPhone already. Apple were really smart here. If you look at the numbers, there are more 99c applications than free applications, and taken as a whole, free applications are a minority.
Android Market is soon going to be rolling out support for paid applications in much the same way as the App Store. Once this happens, you'll see a similar surge in the number of applications available for Android. It won't be as pronounced as the App Store's curve, because Apple have a head-start now, but it will certainly put Android in the game. Although the iPhone has the client numbers, Android has the developer numbers simply because you don't need a Mac to develop Android applications.
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
While the app store is a good thing, it's slightly overrated. Unless you consider a "farting" app the pinnacle of mobile development.
Voodoo Envy Dell Studio 17 17" MacBook Pro
CPU 1.6GHz 2.16GHz 2.66GHz
FSB 800Mhz 667Mhz 1066MHz
Cache 4MB 1MB 6MB
Memory 2GB DD2 2GB DD2 4GB DD3
Hard Drive 80 GB 250 GB 320 GB
Graphics Intergrated Intel X3100 Intergrated Intel 4500MHD NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Price $1,899.99 $799 $2,799.00
In what possible sense could these be called equivalents. This whole clam of PC's being 1/4 of the price of a Mac is all smoke and mirrors and that's even before you consider other innovations that apple has built in like the uni-body and the 8 hour battery life.
And the DRM, and the kill switches, and the FUD..
I really do not see how that MBP is worth $2800.
You can also install Debian on the unlocked G1, or on one of the locked models if you have the firmware with the root exploit.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Plus, taking further the example of mp3 players that original poster used - in many places iPods are almost nonexistent.
One that hath name thou can not otter
The worst of these is Windows constant delivery of messages to the user. On a desktop the "you have unused desktop icons" bubble is annoying - on a Windows mobile device, a bubble that takes the user focus away from, say
is a serious barrier to usage.
The other thing that finally caused me to switch to a Crackberry (which is fantastic) was that it would crash on receiving a call occasionally - brilliant. It was the HTC Tytan if anybody cares.
-- For evil to triumph it is enough that good men do nothing.
Show me another machine with the specs of the MBP that is as thin and cool.
Usually when people say this they have a very specific feature - or combination of features - that are unique to Apple machines in mind. Which ones are yours ?
However, one excellent alternative to the MBP is Dell's E6400. You can even attach it to a docking station, which for my money is an infinitely more important feature than a tenth of inch more thickness (particularly for the price).
I will admit they're not as pretty, however.
I am hesitant to download free stuff to me mobile that hasn't been checked for malware. It would be wise to require some modicum of accountability from the developers whose app you sell - if you were to spread malware you'd face on huge PR storm..
Stop the brainwash
Uh, I hate to break it to the detractors of the Android Market, but the Apple app store applies to only one phone as well. And while the iPhone IS the New Hotness status symbol and so forth, there are still a hundred and one Razr/Blackberry/HTC/Envy/Blackjack owners for a single iPhone owner. Despite its popularity, the iPhone is far from ubiquitous.
I think the previous poster was trolling. If not, then they are just engaging in wishful thinking if they believe Apple can drop prices hundreds or thousands of dollars and make it up in volume.
Show me another machine with the specs of the MBP that is as thin and cool.
This is exactly what starts yet another in the unstoppable chain of price and feature comparisons between Apple and other vendors and it is pointless in the extreme. No one here is going to do a comprehensive look or be able to find machines that are truly comparable not only in bullet point features but in hardware reliability, included support, and integration all of which are important to the value of the end product.
There have been studies performed on this topic already. I wish I had a good one handy. The best was the Consumer Reports one, but you need a subscription. In any case, the verdict is in. Macs cost more than the average PC by about 15%, which is to say about the same amount as other "premium" vendors like Sony, but Apple manages to win on reliability and support every year by a significant margin. (It's up to the individual to decide if that is worth it to them and hey, props to Dell for the massive improvements to their laptop reliability in the last year.) Apple undercuts other vendors a little bit on the low end and overcharges a bit more on the high end and on upgrade parts.
Now people need to get over it. Whether you are a fanboy or a hater, just give it up. Digging up prices and stats online, once is useless. You can't get a large enough sample size to be useful, you can't properly compare features that don't show up in the marketing literature, and your results will vary widely based upon when in the release cycles you make the comparison.
Please never, ever, ever, ever again ask someone to show you another machine that compares to MacFoo from Apple. It just leads to another long, pointless thread.
The advantage of the Apple Store, though, is exactly what most people complain about. Apple vets the software, which means that iPhone users are limited on choice, but have a sense of security. It is unlikely that Apple would let, for instance, malware appear on the store.
The problem is if the other stores allow anything on the store, then the security is gone. Since there is not that level of customer service, the stores are not the same. In fact, I don't think we need any new stores or sites at all, especially for android. What I would trust most are OSS applications on something like sourceforge. I don't download unknown applications for my computer, why would I do so for my phone.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I can't believe no one else is talking about this. The iPhone App Store is anti-competitive... Apple has already abused it's monopoly position by not allowing certain apps that compete with their offerings.
You see, this is the Achilles' heel of your argument. Both legally and economically monopolies are defined by markets. You reference Apple's monopoly, but in terms of economics and law, they don't actually have a monopoly (they are close with ipods though I don't think that applies to this discussion). This article is about Apple Store clones popping up to provide similar functionality for all the competing phones on the market. The fact that such competition exists negates the premise of Apple having a monopoly. If they were to gain monopoly influence on the cellphone or even smartphone market, then yes, absolutely it would be an issue.
Remember, bundling is not illegal. You can sell a package of shampoo and body wash without any problems, right up until you gain monopoly influence on one of those two markets. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on smartphones. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on smartphone apps. Thus, tying their smartphone to their app store is clearly not falling afoul of normal antitrust laws.
This is dramatically different than their Music store/ipod model because you can buy music from anywhere so long as it is DRM-Free.
Actually, the Apple specific DRM and tying to the iTunes store is plenty to convict Apple of antitrust abuse... provided they have monopoly influence to abuse. Right now the EU seems to have leaned towards Apple not having such influence in their investigations largely because of the media playing cell phone trend.
This is not the case with the App Store. Buy from Apple or not at all.
Yeah it is serious lock in and something a purchaser should consider. It's probably the second thing (after price) dissuading me from choosing Apple as the provider of my next smartphone. That said, it is no more anti-competitive than all the other items sold exclusively through cell phones like crazily expensive wallpaper and ringtones. In order for antitrust laws to apply their needs to be a trust. There are other consumer protection laws in various jurisdictions, but nothing universal that make for a large issue.
I'm interested what the policies are on all the different app stores. I know everyone here hates Apple's restrictive policies, but I do appreciate how I can download any app from their app store and not worry about it breaking my iphone, spreading viruses, changing system defaults, or worse (like stealing passwords).
What approval processes and policies do these other stores have?
Killing the company??
Apple made a net profit of $1.14bn (£683m) in the 3rd quarter last year, compared with $904m for the same period the year before, and their market share has just topped 10% for their whole product base.
How exactly are they, killing the company??
- Dan
The App Store is the most important thing the iPhone has going for it. I have a Blackberry through work and enjoy using it (because it's free!), but getting apps is such a pain in the ass that the only thing I've installed is the Google package.
It would be nice if desktop OSes had an easy way to find and install new programs as well. Oh wait ... BSD and Linux do have such a place! How has Apple not jumped on that?
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
The Android Marketplace experience from the phone is really slick. However, there is no way to access it from the Internet. I released a really small free app called "That's not Funny" (check it out).
no surprises here, please move along
Apple doesn't have a monopoly, you are quite free to buy a phone from someone else.
Watch those corners
Apple is running back-to-back-to-back record quarters, in spite of the economy. Yeah, Apple is definitely on its last legs...
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Android / Google phone is a failure...as a hardware platform or a software platform which is reasonably open.
The T Mobile G1 phone is a substandard piece of plastic lacking finish. Better handsets need to appear.
For a phone / phone software to get popular, the most important factor is not jailbreaking, but unlocking the phone to use with different carriers (iPhone is a good example.) The G1 phone has crazy restrictions for it to work on a non TMobile network.
I purchased a G1 handset and paid to get it unlocked. Even after unlocking, the phone will work only if it is authorized on Google Servers with a Google account. That happens only through a T Mobile G1 data plan. (Some forums say you can put an AT&T SIM card with a data plan and it will authorize G1, but that did not work for me.)
I sold the handset. Many like myself are not going to look at a G1 phone or its variants from TMobile again.
Exclusive to what? I hate to break it to you but all cell phones are exclusive in some regard. First of, the network matters. Your GSM phone won't work on CDMA. Some carriers have phones that you can't get on other carriers. You might argue that Motorola makes the same phone work on different networks but you would be wrong. For example, the CDMA RAZR on Verizon is completely a different model than the GSM RAZR that works on AT it just happens to look the same. Also your AT&T phone may not work on T-Mobile if it cannot be unlocked. Now Apple could design a CDMA iPhone but that would go against their strategy of keeping a simple product line.
You are making the iPhone do things for which it was not intended. It is very clear on the packaging that the iPhone works in Windows or OS X. Linux is not supported. You can't complain that it requires you to do things above and beyond standard procedure when Apple has said what you are doing is not supported.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Depends on what you want. It's very hard to compare laptops as every manufacturer has a slightly different configuration than every other. For the most part, MacBook Pros are pricier. But they are generally more reliable and come with more software and features. It's like comparing cars. If the Chevy Malibu sedan is a good fit for you then buy it. But if you want more and are willing to pay, you can get an Acura TSX. What people don't understand is they will take one or two aspects of each car and compare them. "Bah, the TSX is a ripoff. It has the same size engine but costs more!"
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Macs cost more than the average PC by about 15%, which is to say about the same amount as other "premium" vendors like Sony, but Apple manages to win on reliability and support every year by a significant margin.
The first part of this statement is a well-established fact (15% more), the second is highly-controversial(better reliability and support). On reliability, I'll just say "no". I've seen nothing to convince me Apple has significantly lower hardware failure rates than other boutique vendors. "Support" is highly subjective and it depends on what kind of support you need. My colleague had Alienware write a custom driver (at no additional cost) to solve a problem with his laptop. Does Apple do that? I suspect your studies specifically excluded other boutique vendors and compared Apple to Dell, Acer, or Sony. Their real competitors are Pugent, Falcon Northwest, Alienware, VoodooPC, etc. And Dell, etc. offer premium support for additional fees. Does Apple do onsite repair? Dell does. If you buy cheap hardware from Dell (or anyone) don't expect it to be as reliable as more expensive hardware from Apple (or anyone).
The real issue is support for Windows. There isn't much of an "escalation path" to get you from an OEM to Microsoft with an issue, you have to handle this ad hoc. And the OEM will tend to blame MS and MS will blame the OEM. Apple's main support advantage is that they don't get to make this argument as they're a single vendor. That, plus a relatively small application and peripheral pool (and the most popular apps are made by Apple) means that Apple has a lot "less" to support. So if someone calls Dell and says "X application is crashing on my laptop" Dell will probably tell them to contact the application vendor, if someone calls Apple and says "X application is crashing on my laptop" Apple will probably respond with "We know about that, the fix is X" because it's probably THEIR application.
This is the real advantage of Apple: Single-vendor support if you stay in the sandbox.
Now people need to get over it. Whether you are a fanboy or a hater, just give it up.
I'd agree with this wholeheartedly. The real issue here is the software, not the hardware.
The first part of this statement is a well-established fact (15% more), the second is highly-controversial(better reliability and support). On reliability, I'll just say "no". I've seen nothing to convince me Apple has significantly lower hardware failure rates than other boutique vendors.
Okay. So every study I've seen including those from independent reviewing companies says otherwise. Upon what are you basing your assessments of reliability?
"Support" is highly subjective and it depends on what kind of support you need.
True, which is why it is important to rely upon objective studies of it rather than trying to find justification for prejudiced beliefs. You rely upon easily verified facts and numbers from support data.
My colleague...
I'm not interested in anecdotes. Everyone has them. Rational people base their evaluations on data.
I suspect your studies specifically excluded other boutique vendors and compared Apple to Dell, Acer, or Sony.
First, Alienware is a division of Dell these days. Second, why would you make such an assumption? Consumer Reports usually covers about 10 brands in their big studies (with Alienware being included in Dell's numbers for a few years now).
The real issue is support for Windows. There isn't much of an "escalation path" to get you from an OEM to Microsoft with an issue, you have to handle this ad hoc. And the OEM will tend to blame MS and MS will blame the OEM.
That doesn't have anything to do with hardware failure numbers or the dozens of other criteria in the average study. In the Consumer REports study every year, for example, software including the OS counts as one of the ten criteria, not nearly enough to affect their numbers one way or another.
This is the real advantage of Apple: Single-vendor support if you stay in the sandbox.
I agree that can be an advantage, but you certainly haven't shown that is Apple's only advantage.
The real issue here is the software, not the hardware.
Apple has handily won on hardware reliability in every study I've read for years, from a variety of sources. Can you find any where they don't win? I still don't see why you would think Apple's hardware reliability is not better based upon any of the data I've seen.
"Android Market" sure has a nice ring to it. Like something out of Philip K Dick. Or early Star Wars, come to think of it.
I love how optimistic these stories always are... Such a romantic bunch, thinking everything that comes down the pike is going to knock Apple off of it's current perch.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
Jailbreaking which even the Woz says is cool. That opens Cydia to you which kills the app store in just about every way- including the install procedure. Apt-get = yes.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes
So every study I've seen including those from independent reviewing companies says otherwise.
I've been doing this kind of IT and support for a long time and I'm not quite sure how you would engineer such a test. It strikes me that very small changes in methodology would have a dramatic effect on the results.
The problem with most of these tests is that the engineers hide their methodology because they aren't following one. Usually they just ask the vendor and write down whatever they say.
I've never read what I would consider to be a well-designed study to analyze support from major Windows vendors vs. Apple. The only one I've seen was some time ago from PC World and compared Dell, HP, Acer, and a few others based on some well-defined critera. While I think HP "won" the study, if you looked at the raw data it was basically a wash with Acer being slightly inferior.
Upon what are you basing your assessments of reliability?
Personal experience. I've worked in IT for about 15 years now. I've used Apple computers from the very beginning. I've personally used the first Apple computer, met and spent time with principles (the Steves, engineers at Apple, etc.) I've worked in the Apple test labs.
I've also worked in IBM's test labs (for the Thinkpad line) and I've been out to Sony where they do QA. I've worked for and with Microsoft. I've worked for NEC. I've been the head of IT for Samsung Semiconductor.
Consumer Reports usually covers about 10 brands in their big studies (with Alienware being included in Dell's numbers for a few years now).
Consumer Report's "studies" have bad methodology. Last time I talked to their evaluators they were morons and I had to baby them through several stages of testing. And while I can't prove it absolutely, I'm pretty sure Consumer Reports bases these results largely on how much money they can get out of the vendor. You do know they have to pay to participate in these tests don't you?
And according to the most recent survey:
"Laptop percentages ranged from 20% (Lenovo and Compaq) to 23% (Apple). Dell, HP, and Gateway came in at 22%, while Sony and Toshiba come in at 21%. On the desktop front, percentages ranged from 12% (Apple) to 20% (Gateway). Thus, Apple came in on the high end for laptops but at the low end for desktops."
In fact, Apple WAS the high end. In the last Consumer Reports survey Apple had the very worst record for laptop repair of the vendors they tested. This was despite the fact Apple doesn't have a super-cheap $500 budget laptop like most of the other vendors.
So if you consider Consumer Reports authoritative (I don't), Apple laptop hardware sucks.