[rhapdog]

I'm sorry, you lost me after pie. I want pie. I need pie. I'm wondering how I can get pie from computing. (Yes I know I can get pi from computing, but it really is not the same thing at all.) Then I realized you said Microsoft owns 95% of the pie. I worry that they won't let me have pie.

Whaaaaaaa!!! It's unfair. I want pie and have none. WHERE IS MY PIE?!?!?

You could get some Apple pie, but it cost $100,000 per slice.

Personally, I think Microsoft should be selling Chocolate Pie. There is no-pie-thing in this world better than chocolate pie.

[Great deal]

[mjperry51]

Even before the Watch went on sale, Cook said they wouldn't reveal sales figures so as not to give any of their competitors insight into what was working and what wasn't, so I never expected them to say anything one way or another.

Tim Cook -- the Anti-Steve Jobs. . . .

[errole]

Interesting comments everyone

[realwarder]

Apple's relative silence regarding IWatch sales is also very telling. They're not crowing about fantastic acceptance or inventory shortages.


I guess that's my point, isn't it. . .

They are selling less that 2000 a day.

At least that I what an analyst report on Marketwatch showed the other day based on credit card transactions. At release it was high but fell off like an exponential graph.

Interest has gone. Reviews were not great. Price is high.

Will be interesting how they spin it. Probably still as most smart watches sold as it will be, but not the typical success.

[syspry]

MS is pulling a blackberry. Sitting and resting on corporate sales and existing Windows desktop home users.

[realwarder]

MS is pulling a blackberry. Sitting and resting on corporate sales and existing Windows desktop home users.

I don't see the aggressive push of Windows phone or creating new markets like the Surface, HoloLens and the Band as sitting resting.

Think how many Windows tablets were around 2 years ago. None. Today there are hundreds available.

[fatclue_98]

MS is pulling a blackberry. Sitting and resting on corporate sales and existing Windows desktop home users.

BlackBerry didn't pull a Microsoft and buy up a sinking phone maker only to turn around and write off a $7.8 Billion loss. Even with MS's deep pockets a timeout was necessary.

Sent from my LG G3 via Tapatalk

[Ali El]

IMHO I think the problem is not only that they couldn't piece together something, I think it stems from who they are. Now I may be missing many of the pieces, but to most outsiders, MSFT looks like the windows 98, corporate only, higher than the regular consumer type business. Apple and google, seem approachable in the sense of human emotion, MSFT just hasn't captured that... YET.

I say YET because it's a big task to rebrand yourself after people remember what you failed at. This is the truth. Apple has that "first time golden" esq' about it, like it almost can do no wrong.

Now that we have all of that, MSFT is starting to move in the right direction, but it will take a lot for them to make things work.

I think if they just buckle down, create what we want tomorrow and actually finish the product, they can change. But that's just me....

[Great deal]

Agree - that's the difference between the brand, the emotional response and anchor to each one. Every time I speak to a friend of mine about MS immediately he says they are rubbish, and to be honest its 100% Microsoft's fault for doing the most idiotic things and a lot of that was under the watch of Steve Balmer. Today its a different company with a different perception to those in the know and its only a matter of time before the masses see that as well, all MS have to do is keep making and delivering great products and solutions that make peoples lives easier. Apple is stale and I see no innovation whatsoever from them, Steve Jobs was amazing and they are living off the fruit (apple) of his labour...Google, well, I just see Google as an extension of the NSA!

[Pete]

This thread kind of reminds me of this image that was being sent around last year sometime...



Yes, I get the point about Apple being popular, but that's the point really. Good design and good marketing made the brand popular more than the products being good. Building brand loyalty and reinforcing that loyalty with Apple products that only really work well with other Apple products is what's bagged them the cash.

I think I prefer Microsoft's approach, even though they're not first, and not popular...

[Spectrum90]

The results of the consumer segments were pretty bad the last quarter. 20% decline YoY in gross margin.

[DavidinCT]

Microsoft owns 95% of the world's desktop computing pie.

So ? That's great and all but, is Microsoft COOL ? That is the BIG QUESTION HERE. Because when it comes down to it, most(on a global scale) people/business run Windows because they don't have a choice. Apple is a good OS but, too limited (depending on what you do) and not cheap, and PC's are cheaper so most of those people get a Windows computer because of bang for the buck and they can do what they need for the most part.

Then the other side, as said above, the term Windows refers to work, not fun. AKA=Not COOL.

They would have to look at people in the 16-18 year old range (young, starting first jobs, fairly hip to modern music and trends). If you asked then what they would want, a Windows Tablet or an iPad, what do you think they would say ? I would almost bet by a very high margin that they would say an iPad. Why ? Because it's cool. The Windows Tablet would see limited on younger minds because their parents use Windows and they want to be different. This is why these devices are so successful. Android is trying to get on that market and the only way they can right now is with a $59 tablet (very low prices)

When it comes down to it, these are the demographics that Microsoft should be going for with their ads. They might not buying today but, when they get jobs and get fairly good income in a few years they will be buying. They are the next customer and where they should be targeting.

So their ads need to be more edgy, more perky and more HIP to modern trends. A lot more edgy than they are almost on the line of being offensive.

For me, they just need to put Windows Media Center in Windows 10 and you got me ! :)

[fatclue_98]

the term Windows refers to work, not fun. AKA=Not COOL.

Cool doesn't pay the bills and certainly doesn't meet payroll. Even the venerated iPad wasn't meant for that young demographic you speak so highly of. They were, and are, expensive! I don't care how hip you are, if you're on minimum wage you ain't buying an iPad.

[Cody Patterson]

Cool doesn't pay the bills and certainly doesn't meet payroll. Even the venerated iPad wasn't meant for that young demographic you speak so highly of. They were, and are, expensive! I don't care how hip you are, if you're on minimum wage you ain't buying an iPad.

I'm sorry but that just simoly isn't true. These days if you don't get the hip young crowd, then you won't make the big bucks because it won't catch on. Apps and phones get big when teens get them and advertise them to their friends saying they are cool. You absolutely need to win over the young teens to make successful products that can compete with the likes of Samsung or apple. That's pretty widely known around these parts. We are just waiting on Microsoft to catch on to that.

[fatclue_98]

I didn't say that the younger crowd isn't important, but to think they drive the market and that they're doing the purchasing is ludicrous. It's mom and dad for the most part, not the kids.

Sent from an old warhorse Gateway NV79

[Cody Patterson]

No lol, that is the point! It is the young crowd with parents who spend money that do in fact drive the market. This is not uncommon knowledge. As someone who does marketing for a living, I know that for a fact.

[RumoredNow]

They would have to look at people in the 16-18 year old range (young, starting first jobs, fairly hip to modern music and trends). If you asked then what they would want, a Windows Tablet or an iPad, what do you think they would say ? I would almost bet by a very high margin that they would say an iPad. Why ? Because it's cool. The Windows Tablet would see limited on younger minds because their parents use Windows and they want to be different. This is why these devices are so successful. Android is trying to get on that market and the only way they can right now is with a $59 tablet (very low prices)

Every Soccer Mom has an iPad or an Android based Kindle.

When I went overseas I saw about 16, 000 Moms and Dads in their 30's and older each day taking selfies with their iPad Air tablets.

[raycpl]

Ooow.. over here, adults uses 4"-6" phones, they wont be caught dead taking photos using a iPad or Tab. Those have been relegated to the little kids as baby-sitter substitutes... although I would add, I hardly see anyone using a Win tablet out in the wild....

[Visa Declined]

Recent reports show that Apple Watch sales have tanked.

Are you sure? Apple posts another record quarter, with over $1 billion in Apple Watch sales | The Verge

[Great deal]

Brands perception changes over time, people are bombarded with the latest and greatest in every area and product, most are programmed to change often. Apple has absolutely creamed and milked the idevices and there is not much more they can do with an OS that is so closed and limited. The perception used to be (still is to a degree) that macs were the go to option for designers, graphics etc, that is no longer the case.

IMO MS will eat into the Apple pie and slowly we will see bigger slices in mobile. So far as enterprise goes, MS has it sewn up and Apple has zero change of competing.

As I take a step back and look at the mobile platforms I see Intel powered devices able to work harmoniously with desktop software being the obvious choice. Continuum is the future and Apple's slice in enterprise looks likely to drop as W10 takes hold.

[mjperry51]

Without disclosing specific figures, Maestri said sales of the Apple Watch beat the company's expectations.

Apple gives weak forecast, shares fall nearly 7 percent

[MikeX74]

Apple gives weak forecast, shares fall nearly 7 percent

Don't confuse the health of the stock with the health of the company. Apple beat their own record in iPhone sales vs the year-ago quarter, while adding even more money to their already ridiculous cash hoard. Regardless of what Wall Street thinks right now, Apple is doing just fine.

[psiu_glen]

Don't confuse the health of the stock with the health of the company. Apple beat their own record in iPhone sales vs the year-ago quarter, while adding even more money to their already ridiculous cash hoard. Regardless of what Wall Street thinks right now, Apple is doing just fine.

Also ridiculously, look at something like Qualcomm. The 810 wasn't an epic unqualified smash hit, and one of the hedge funds that owns a huge portion of them wants to change things up.

You know, for short term stock spikes (and sells), not any actual long term business sense. You can always tell when things are about to go downhill long term when the R&D divisions get cleared out, all manufacturing is offloaded, and companies just become licensing/service platforms. The march to irrelevance and patent trolling is not far behind.

[mjperry51]

Don't confuse the health of the stock with the health of the company. Apple beat their own record in iPhone sales vs the year-ago quarter, while adding even more money to their already ridiculous cash hoard. Regardless of what Wall Street thinks right now, Apple is doing just fine.

I was not speaking to Apple's current corporate health. I know they're sitting on a mountain of cash, and IPhone sales were strong. The stock dropped because they didn't meet analysts expectations. Despite Apple's rhetoric, I believe IWatch sales were lower than they hoped internally. And the IWatch will not have the same open playing filed as the IPad and IPhone had at their introductions. Further -- I haven't seen the kind of Jobs-like visionary leadership out of Tim Cook that would comfort investors, and Apple sitting on that cash is going to wear on those investors over time.

My overriding point is that I view Apple as vulnerable; tablets and smartphones are becoming a saturated marketplace with solid competition. Even Yahoo Tech is doing features on Cortana.

Apple isn't going away -- however I don't see them as the invincible force they were 5 years ago.