Ballmer: "The Tide Has Turned" Against Apple

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ethaniel

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Well, he has to "say something", but the overprice in Mac systems can't be denied. Anyway, I don't think, Apple's real money is in it's computers. iPhones, iPods and the App Store are strong sellers, and that can't be denied either.
 

wymer100

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I notice he doesn't talk about MS's iPod or iphone competitors, how the search business is doing compared to Google, or how IE is losing marketshare to FireFox. MS just simply can't compete beyond the Windows/Office "monopoly." Ballmer, worry about your other products before you start bashing the other guy.

Marketing 101: The big guy doesn't talk about the little guy because that gives the little guy credibility. If you are so confident about your products, don't bash the little guy but talk about how good your product is.
 

JeanLuc

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Ballmer does have point. Apple has priced it's computers towards the high end of the market and in times of recession where money is tight people like myself are looking more closely to where there money goes.

Take for example the Macbook Air laptop, it cost $3000 when it first came out and Apple marketed by advertising it's size showing how it fits inside a manilla envelope. That might have worked in 2007/2008 but why would anyone spend that sort of money on laptop just because it can fit in a manilla envelope?
 
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there is something to be said about design and the fact that psytar did not spend $$ on desiging an operating system.
 

Hatecrime69

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god, talk about an un-flattering picture, heck even in a picture that could be considered 'flattering' the guy is fugly, that takes it to a new level

And i hate myself for saying this, but he has a point...i'd love for osx to be a legitimate option to windows, but with apple handling their hardware the way they do, it just isn't
 

wymer100

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I'm not sure about the MacBook Air costing $3000. The MacBook Air costs $1800 for the base model and $2500 with the upgraded processor and 128GB SSD. (You can get a refurbished one from Apple for $1000.) The MBA is a fantastic ultraportable laptop.
 

skine

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[citation][nom]carcanal[/nom]there is something to be said about design and the fact that psytar did not spend $$ on desiging an operating system.[/citation]
They spend money ($$, as you call it) paying Apple for designing their operating system. Every computer sold has a legally purchased copy of OS X shipped with it.
 

kansur0

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I think this economy sucks Apple back into a time machine with the dial set to 1989. Remember when Apple was superior to Windows? Apple was completely overpriced and Apple fanatics would gloat because they had enough money to do digital graphics. Then Jobs stepped back into the picture and made Apple more reasonably priced to compete with the PC. Apple has still never ever dropped below the threshold of what a PC can offer in terms of price but they do hardware and software integration well enough that you either shell out for the good stuff or pull your hair out trying to hackintosh.

Long story short...Apple will always stay at 10 - 15% market share because of price structure. Now if they would only use some of the ipod and iphone moneys to shave prices off of hardware as well as stay current with GPU technology blow for blow...you would have a serious momentum shift happen. As it stands...Apple is still tied to the "i".
 

eklipz330

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While many argue that the Apple price premium is worth it when it comes to laptops

I'm gonna have to say NO. it is not. they just look pretty, but in their own unique way... i've seen better looking laptops anyhow
 

eddieroolz

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[citation][nom]wymer100[/nom]I notice he doesn't talk about MS's iPod or iphone competitors, how the search business is doing compared to Google, or how IE is losing marketshare to FireFox. MS just simply can't compete beyond the Windows/Office "monopoly." Ballmer, worry about your other products before you start bashing the other guy. Marketing 101: The big guy doesn't talk about the little guy because that gives the little guy credibility. If you are so confident about your products, don't bash the little guy but talk about how good your product is.[/citation]

He was asked about it. You can't shy away from a question, that makes you look even more like a douche if you shy away.
 

Herbert_HA

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I believe that Ballmer is partially right, because the difference in price will difficult people who use Windows to convert to Mac, but Mac fans won't stop buying macs, regardless of the economy turmoil.

And also, I really don't believe Apple wants to compete against other PC makers or Microsoft for the majority of market share. I think they like the place where they are now, with enough people purchasing their products so they are financially stable, even prosperous, without having to worry about things Microsoft has to (compatibility issues, monopoly, security, etc).
 

tpi2007

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[citation][nom]carcanal[/nom]there is something to be said about design and the fact that psytar did not spend $$ on desiging an operating system.[/citation]

Well, yes they didn't but then again Psystar still has to buy the OS, which means it's reflected on the price of the system and Apple got their share to cover said development costs.

And when it comes to design, that's the first thing to go in a time of crisis. If the product isn't downright ugly or awkward and is durable, that's fine with the majority.
 

kansur0

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Does anyone see a resemblance from a certain Star Wars character in the picture above? Could we call him "Ballmer the Hutt"?
 

p05esto

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I like both Apple and Microsoft. Although these days I lean towards Microsoft, Apple and it's fans just seem a little too full of themselves. As if buying a Mac or iPod is cool and elite? I've found much nicer and cheaper MP3 players than the iPod, iTunes is a rip off and when I want a computer I build a sweet system that runs a MS OS (soon to be Windows 7 of course).
 

hotroderx

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He brings up a really good point. Who is gonna wanna pay for something that cost 500-1000 dollars more then its counterpart? PC vs Mac I think most people will choose PC and keep the extra 500-1000 dollars to pay there bills. Also to ever one that saying that mac is making money of phones and I-Pods and things thats true but as things get tougher things will change when it comes to getting that luxury item aka I-Pod vs putting food in your mouth or your families mouth I think the decision is easy and when cell phone companies offer black berry at a fraction of the cost of a I-Phone then same thing. But this just doesn't go for Apple this goes for ever company that manufacture what I call luxury technology like Blue-Ray players MP3 players and the such.
 
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