[Ti] Market Share: 2.3% -- That's NOT good press, coupled

[coccolithophorid at earthlink.net]

XXL <xxl at mac.com> wrote:
IF Mac sales slip far down enough that 3rd parties abandon the platform
(which was happening when Apple nearly sank in 1997) your needs will  
NOT be
met.  There is a critical mass level of Mac sales that must be met or  
the
whole shooting match is going up in flames because 3rd parties will stop
developing for the platform.

I do not see this idea as obscure, yet many seem to be unable to grasp  
how
the market works: hardware sales drive software sales which in turn spur
continued software development by 3rd parties.

Kevin wrote:
If you really want to worry about a computer company failing maybe you  
should check out Sun...
"Sun Microsystems Inc., saddled with huge acquisition costs, posted a  
$2.3 billion quarterly loss on Thursday -- its largest ever."
With Apple numbers like these (see below) I have absolutely no worries  
about Apple or third party developers including the hundreds that just  
jumped in from the UNIX world. Are you really worried about Apple?

from:   http://www.alliedcomputing.com/default.php?news_id=50
Of the 275 million personal computers in the world today, 32 million of  
them run some version of the Mac OS. Folks, that's not 5%, like the  
urban legend has it; that's 11.6% of the worldwide personal computer  
market. And, it's certainly not the 3% or so recently published as the  
Mac's share of new computer sales.
The Hardware Numbers

To cap off this interesting study, I'll now share one more group of  
estimates with you: the percentages of installed personal computers  
around the world, by manufacturer. These numbers are drawn a from about  
20 different fragmentary sources, and have been compiled by me, to the  
point that I am confident in their general accuracy. Take a look.

11.6% Apple
10.4% Compaq
9.8% Dell
9.1% IBM
7.3% Hewlett-Packard
5.1% Sony
3.4% Toshiba
3.1% NEC
3.0% Packard-Bell
2.1% eMachines
1.7% Microstar
1.3% Fujitsu
32.1% Others (each less than 1%)

for more Apple numbers...
http://apple.slashdot.org/ 
comments.pl?sid=51044&cid=0&pid=0&startat=&threshold=1&mode=thread&comme 
ntsort=3&op=Change
from slashdot.org...

"They've got 4.4 BILLION (that's Billion, with a B) in the bank.
Somehow, I fail to be able to dredge up anything resembling panic for  
Apple's future."

"Well, then, at their current burn rate, they'll be out of business in  
137 years. I'd better get a PC soon."

"That amounts to a cash total of about $12 per share. Apple could just  
about buy back all their public shares with the money they have in  
reserve.
Put another way, they could take a $250M quarterly hit over four years  
& *still* be around! "

I'm definitely not worried. Are you?
Kevin