[citation][nom]Yoder54[/nom]It is called product branding, innovation, and good marketing. Why do you need a ton of products to be successful? MS has very few apps, Apple has maybe 25 products...if that...yet, they make money. When GM was spread out they ran into all kinds of financial problems. Once GM cut several models/divisions, then they began to see profits. Ah, stereotyping is alive and well.[/citation]
Exactly. Sometimes having a simple line-up of products just works. Plus I can easily name all of Apple's main products off the top of my head, so obviously their marketing team is doing something right.
Plus they are great at innovating. Granted, they do not use the most powerful pieces of hardware, and a good chunk of their product lineup is overpriced. But when you have an awesome marketing team, a good brand following, and new fresh ways to approach common tasks, people won't care if they are slightly overpriced.
Having said that, the only thing I have ever bought from Apple (and will continue to buy) is their Macbook Pro lineup. They're great laptops, and unlike their iMacs, they aren't horribly overpriced. The Unix-based OS is extremely handy for me as I run many unix-based programs, as well as X11 into various Linux/Unix servers. Plus I use Final Cut Pro on a daily basis.