Mac vs PC – 4Q 2011

In the 4th quarter of 2011, shipments of Windows-based PCs (from makers like HP, Dell, Toshiba and Acer) were down cumulatively 8.5% while Mac shipments for the same period were up 20.7%. The Small Wave reports this as well as clearing up the original data from Gartner which was misleading and showed the PC numbers to be much better than they actually were. (Gartner lumped Apple’s numbers in with the rest of the industry, which effectively propped up the Windows PC segment and made their decline appear to be less than it was.)

If you truly want to know how Apple did in the US on its own against “PCs”, you must subtract it from the latter’s numbers. Here’s what you get:

• Total 4Q11: 15,854,964
• Total 4Q10: 17,342,605
• 4Q11-4Q10 Growth: -8.5

Innovation: Kenneth Cole Shoes

This is genius.

Dan Lewis posted a story about how Kenneth Cole got his shoe company going in spite of some financial and logistical challenges. Summary:

• Cole wanted to rent some exhibit space to show his shoes at a big event in New York City
• The space was too expensive for the budget of his small company
• He asked the city for a permit to park a big truck nearby and display his shoes from the truck
• The city said no — permits like that are only for utility companies and film production
• So he decided to shoot a film: The Birth of a Shoe Company
• He got a film permit from the city
• He hired cameramen and actors (models) to display his shoes from the truck
• They sold 40,000 pairs in two and a half days

Apple: most valuable US company

Shortly before 2pm today Apple surpassed ExxonMobil in market capitalization to become the most valuable company in the United States.

Apple Inc.’s stock gained 3.4 percent to $365.10 Tuesday afternoon, bringing the iPhone and iPad maker’s market capitalization to about $338 billion.

Exxon Mobil Corp. shares, meanwhile, were trading at $69.23, down 1.4 percent. That gives the oil company a market cap of $337 billion.

Other big-name corporations, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Electric Co., don’t even come close.

[...]

In its latest quarterly report, Apple said stronger iPhone and iPad sales helped more than double its net income to $7.31 billion and grow revenue by 82 percent to $28.6 billion.

This is a phenomenal level of performance in a little over a decade. In 1997 Apple was nearly bankrupt when Steve Jobs returned to the company as ‘interim’ CEO as part of the NeXT acquisition. Ten years later Apple revolutionized the mobile industry with the iPhone, and followed that up three years later with the creation of a totally new product category with the iPad. Not to mention the first widely-adopted online digital media store—the iTunes Store—that surpassed 10 billion downloads in 2010.

Steve Jobs’ annual salary at Apple: $1.

Apple market cap higher than MSFT, HP & DELL combined

Looking at Apple’s amazing performance over the last decade, this Wolfram|Alpha computation (screen grab below) compares Apple’s current market cap to that of Microsoft, HP and Dell. Apple is currently valued at more than all three of those companies combined.

I remember Michael Dell’s 1997 comment about Apple after Steve Jobs came back as part of the NeXT deal:

In 1997, shortly after Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, the company he helped start in 1976, Dell’s founder and chairman, Michael S. Dell, was asked at a technology conference what might be done to fix Apple, then deeply troubled financially.

“What would I do?” Mr. Dell said to an audience of several thousand information technology managers. “I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”

Apache Web Server leads all others

According to Netcraft’s June 2011 Web Server Survey, the open source Apache web server software is far and away the leading platform today. It’s a powerful statement for the viability of FOSS (free and open source software) when the majority of the web is running on it.

Blogging service reliability

Pingdom.com published results from their reliability tests across the major blog hosting services (Google’s Blogger, WordPress.com, Posterous, Tumblr and Typepad). They tested between October 15 and December 15.

Bear in mind that this represents the hosting service offered by these providers. If you’re hosting your own installation of WordPress through another web hosting company, for example, then this would not apply.

Results

1. Blogger
2. WordPress.com
3. Typepad
4. Posterous
5. Tumblr

Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a hot political and economic topic these days. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s all about and why you should care, here’s A Guide to the Open Internet—a single-serving site with a short primer on the issue.

From the site:

Network neutrality is the idea that your cellular, cable, or phone internet connection should treat all websites and services the same. Big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast want to treat them differently so they can charge you more depending on what you use.

Why is Net Neutrality Important?

1. A free and open internet is the single greatest technology of our culture, and control should not be at the mercy of corporations.
2. A free and open internet stimulates competition.
3. A free and open internet helps prevent unfair pricing practices.
4. A free and open internet promotes innovation.
5. A free and open internet is more trustworthy and honest.
6. A free and open internet drives businesses.
7. A free and open internet protects the freedom of speech.

Netbooks and iPads

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) reporting today that demand for netbooks is dramatically dropping as more people are considering the iPad for a lightweight computing device. I think the key factor here is that a lot of people mostly do just email and web browsing, and for these customers—millions of them—a full ‘computer’ is not only overkill but unnecessarily complicated for a few simple tasks. The iPad is a new category of device designed for a category of user that’s been around for years.

Netbook Demand

Tablet Purchase Forecast

Forecasts for tablet purchases are highly in favor of the iPad, but that’s likely because there really isn’t much of a competitive field right now, and the average consumer today probably doesn’t know much about the tablet devices from RIM, Samsung, HP and the others. The iPad’s brand recognition is huge now, and the next six to nine months should tell us more about how well these other tablet offerings are being received.

iPad Satisfaction

Satisfaction among iPad owners is high but, again, until competitive devices hit the market this data may not be particularly relevant. I do think that Apple has established such a commanding lead in the category that competitors will have a hard time breaking through. They won’t beat the iPad on a price-vs-features metric (Apple’s supply-chain management is one of its strengths, allowing them to price very aggressively), nor will any of these companies be able to offer anything remotely close to the App Store selection (the store is the killer app) or the software and hardware engineering that make the iPad experience what it is. I think it’s all a battle for second place now, anyway.

Apple #1 in consumer satisfaction for 7 years

For the 7th straight year, Apple leads in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index’s PC category.

Apple continues its dominance, leading the PC category by a wide margin for the seventh straight year. Customer satisfaction with Apple’s computer products, including the iPad, rose 2% to an ACSI of 86—the highest score ever for Apple. The company now has a 9-point lead over its nearest competitor. No other company in the ACSI has as formidable a lead within its own industry. Innovation and product diversification, along with strong customer service, have long been at the center of Apple’s success.

Apple to sell 45 million iPads in 2011?

Forbes Magazine’s Elizabeth Woyke is reporting — based on a research note from Ticonderoga Securities’ Brian White — that Apple could sell as many as 45 million iPads in 2011. This is based on information coming out of suppliers, so who knows how accurate it is.

If true, though, that would amount to about $30 billion in revenue for Apple just from iPads, which is almost as much as the entire company earned in 2008. For a product that didn’t even exist six months ago.