🚀 go-pugleaf

"John Slade" <hhitman86@pacbell.net> wrote in message 
news:0Nk0o.6323$o27.6164@newsfe08.iad...
> On 7/16/2010 11:30 PM, Todd Allcock wrote:
>> At 16 Jul 2010 20:47:53 -0700 John Slade wrote:
>>
>>> Apple would have to sell many, many more computers to catch any of the
>>> big boys. For them to capture significant OS X market share, they have
>>> to convince people that OS X is better to have around than Windows
>>> XP/Vista/7. Since relatively very few games and applications are
>>> produced for OS X(excluding UNIX software), it's no wonder OS X has
>>> seen minuscule gains.
>>>
>>>        Now if this info doesn't sink in, you'll never understand.
>>
>>
>> What you don't seem to understand is that Apple isn't in the OS business,
>> they're in the hardware business.
>
>      Apple is in the OS business.

Tangentally, yes.  As I said, it's a value-add- a differentiator to 
encourage purchases of their hardware.

If they were in the "OS business" they wouldn't prohibit installation on 
non-Apple devices in the EULA, and they wouldn't sue any one that tried to 
sell Mac clones.

They could sell a lot of OS X DVDs if they allowed and supported 
"Hackintosh" installation, but that would cannibalize sales of Mac hardware. 
Apple has no interestin trading a $600 Mac Mini sal for a $50 OS X DVD sale.

>>  OS X is a "value add"- essentially a
>> software bundle to differentiate themselves from other brands.
>
>      I understand. Apple wants to use OS X to sell their hardware. Their 
> marketing is based on two tings, the novelty of their computers and that 
> OS X is better than "PC" software. Apple says that OS X doesn't get "PC" 
> viruses and doesn't suffer from the problems of Windows.

Exactly- differentiation.  There's very little reason to buy a Mac if all 
you plan to do with it is run Windows on it, so Mac OS X and Apple's iLife 
are value adds.


> This is the reason OS X hasn't been gaining much market share. There is no 
> good reason to buy OS X to most people so there is no good reason to buy a 
> Mac. Now I'm sure there is a small niche out there that wants to buy a 
> cutesy Mac and run Windows exclusively. But the main reason to buy a Mac 
> for the majority is to use OS X.

Hence, they're in the hardware business, not the OS business.  Apple 
software is a means to an end.

>      Steve Jobs said it best, Macs were about the OS when they switched to 
> making clones like Dell and HP do.

Yes, but again, only as a tool to sell Macs, not to make OS X ubiquitous on 
all brands of PC, like Windows is.

>> If Apple cared about OS market share as a measure of sucess, they'd
>> license OS X to other OEMs like Microsoft does.  But they don't.  They
>> want to sell $800 computers, not $20 OEM licenses.
>
>     They do care about market share. Apple would LOVE to have 20% market 
> share.

In computer sales, yes.  They could have a 20% OS market share by unbundling 
OS X from Apple hardware.

> I think in the future Apple will allow OS X to run on generic PCs rather 
> than just the ones they churn out. It seems their mobile devices are a 
> greater and greater portion of their profits each year.

Which is why they don't need "naked" OS sales.  They already have 
alternative revenue streams.  Selling OS X without Macs would kill off Macs 
and their 30-point margins.

>> Trying to compare Apple to Microsoft is like comparing Ford to Goodyear.
>> Sure, Ford sells a good number of tires, but primarily in sets of four,
>> bolted to a car or truck, same as Apple sells OSes: "bolted" to a 
>> computer.
>
>     I compare Apple to Microsoft, HP and Dell. They're all hardware 
> makers.

Outside of limited forays into hardware (Zune, XBox, mice) Microsoft is a 
software maker.  Compare Apple to Dell and HP.

> Only two are OS makers for the average user.

I didn't have a choice of using OS X unless I bought an Apple computer.

> Apple is in the software business and it's a major selling point to them. 
> If you go and look at their web site you can clearly see that.

Yes, but again, as a differentiator.  It's a "bullet point" to sell their 
computer over an HP or Dell.  Otherwise it'd be sold for installation on any 
computer, and Apple would have a "why buy OS X page" instead of a "why buy a 
Mac" page.