Apple vs. Microsoft

There have been reports recently from various technology analysts that the Mac is gaining on Microsoft (love those Mac ads). But perhaps the surest indicator is the recent financial reports of the two companies.

Apple’s quarterly report for the first three months of this year reports a 51% increase in sales of Macs over the quarter a year ago, and revenue increased 54%. Apple increased its market share by over one percent – a significant increase in such a competitive market. iPod sales were flat.

Microsoft’s reported revenue on Vista (Windows) sales, on the other hand, was reported as “weak” and less than analysts’  expectations.

Now of course Apple is starting from much lower revenues, but still, such a dramatic difference is surely significant.

Comments

[Chuck]

A Mac, as in a Macintosh computer, is spelled "Mac."

MAC would infer a MAC address on a network interface card.

Just so you know. :-)

[Chris]

I think you meant MAC would imply a MAC address on a network interface card.

You would infer he meant Mac when he said MAC.

[bim]

Sadly, financial reports have little to do with the desktop market you are referring to. You have to go finer grain, see where they're making money, losing money, and what other divisions they have. Small example: Microsoft has a hugely profitable hardware division (keys, mice, etc.), while Apple has a pretty damn profitable software division. MS has a lot of loss in some markets, and monopoly status in others. Apple has, from what I know, no losing market segments, but is a much smaller company. You, on the other hand, use "MAC" like a Windows user from 1997 before the disappointment of '98 and ME, mix up revenue, software, and hardware. Dude, it ain't that easy. Sorry.

[Peter]

"Small example: Microsoft has a hugely profitable hardware division (keys, mice, etc.), while Apple has a pretty damn profitable software division."

Actually, I'm not sure it's "hugely profitable." It is profitable, but not hugely so. I think it has to do more with volume, though. They make good money on what they sell, but they don't sell a whole lot of them.

From what I understand, the big profit center in the "Consumer" division (Xbox, WebTV, Hardware, Mac BU) is the Mac Business Unit. Supposedly, Microsoft makes more money if you buy a Mac and Mac Office than if you buy a Windows PC.

By the way, while people are being a little nasty, the MAC vs. Mac is usually the first sign of cluelessness. I'm a long-time Mac developer and any company that advertised for a "MAC programmer" was usually not worth working for. Although my personal favorite was being contacted by a headhunter about a position with a company who looking for someone with knowledge of MAC and the headhunter assumed they meant Macintosh when they really meant Ethernet's Media Access Controllers (MAC).

And any ISP tech support person will tell you how much fun it is when they mention, "I need your MAC address." and the guy on the other end says, "But I'm using a PC..."

[John Heckman]

My point was that there was a 51% increase in the number Mac DESKTOPS sold, whereas the number of Vista/Windows DESKTOPS remained flat. So Apple is gaining market share, presumably at the expense of Windows (certainly not at the expense of Linux).

[Partners in Grime]

And any ISP tech support person will tell you how much fun it is when they mention, "I need your MAC address." and the guy on the other end says, "But I'm using a PC..."

Even funnier is that it's the Mac users who actually know where to find their MAC number. :)