In news that will surely shake the computer world to its very core, it has been revealed that Apple has shipped less computers this last year than the previous one. Mother of God. We may as well all just surrender to oblivion.
Honestly, though, it’s not really a surprise. The idea that Apple could increase sales during this economy is an optimistic one. I’d say that the rise of low-cost netbooks (and tweeners like the HP dv2 I’m currently reviewing) have eaten up Apple’s growth. And Apple hasn’t done much to entice new customers — the new laptops are nice but aren’t significantly different from their predecessors. That is, except when it comes to price; in a slightly “let them eat cake” move, Apple raised the average price of their hardware during a year when people have less money to spend than they have for years. I’m surprised they didn’t post more of a decline.
Of course, Apple’s market share still increased, by 0.4% anyway, so I’m sure the Apple fans will cling to that stat like a WoW addict to his Gamer Grub. Maybe that’s a cruel way of putting it.
But look at the other stats on that sheet. What’s up, Dell? Just dropping 16% there?