We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
These are just a few of the PC brands that have disappeared over the
years as the Windows world continued its descent to lower and lower
prices - and lower and lower profits.
At the same time, Microsoft kept increasing sales of Windows, which
it has continued to do until 2011, when it appears Windows may have
peaked. But Microsoft remains profitable.
And Microsoft doesn't care what happens to Northgate, ZDS, Tandy, or
Zeos - or the guy down the street who cobbles together custom PCs for a
living. As long as Microsoft sells you a license for Windows, it is
happy. Hardware brands mean nothing to Microsoft.
These are just a few of the brands making smartphones and/or
tablets that are licensed Android users. And as the commodity world of
Android smartphones continues its downward price and profit spiral, who
knows how many of these brands will still be selling Android hardware
five years from now - or even two.
Whatever happens, Google will continue to see increased numbers of
Android licenses and activations. And even though Google gives away
Android for free, it is a very profitable company.
Google doesn't care what happens to HTC, Samsung, Dell, or Garmin.
As long as the number of Android licenses grows, Google is happy.
Hardware brands mean nothing to Google.
Real Competition?
Android licensees should realize that they are entering the same
kind of commodity market that has killed off so many brands of PCs.
When everyone uses the same type of processor, the same kind of memory,
the same brands of 3G and WiFi chips, and similar touch displays, it
becomes a fight for the bottom. Consumers have real hardware choices -
one core or two? how big a display? - but that's the extent of it. With
version 3.0, Android is under Google's control.
Microsoft is trying to do the same thing with Windows Phone, and
it's going to be the same kind of downward spiral for Microsoft
licensees.
PCs are commodities. Android and Windows Phone devices are becoming
commodities. And while the numbers continue to grow, the profits
continue to shrink.
Be Different
Apple has always built the whole widget, starting with the Apple II.
It designs and builds the hardware. It own and tweaks the operating
system. It creates products that seemingly have the same commodity
components everyone else has access to, yet Apple is not caught up in a
downward spiral of price and profits.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Apple makes more profit from selling
its devices than any PC company, because Apple creates unique products
that nobody else can duplicate. Microsoft and Linux can copy features
from Macs. Microsoft and Android can copy features from iOS. But in the
end, no manufacturer has an advantage, because everyone is dealt the
same hand.
It doesn't matter to Apple if Android has two or three times its
share of the smartphone market or the tablet market. Their products are
always compared with the iPhone and iPad, and their apps with Apple's
quality-controlled App Store offerings, and even the best come up
short.
Complain all you want about Apple's walled garden, but realize that
Apple's garden is almost completely weed-free. Windows malware runs
rampant, and Android is starting to get its fair share, but Macs and
iDevices have scarcely been touched by malevolent hackers.
As others have pointed out recently, Apple users do more. Most
Windows users only run a handful of apps. Most Android users spend a
lot less time online than iOS users. Why? Because we have better
tools.
In the end, that's what it's all about - and that's why Apple is
never going to be on a list of failed computer makers.
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986,
sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and
has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Links for the Day
Mac of the Day: Performa 630, introduced 1994.07.01. The first desktop Mac with an IDE hard drive could accept a TV or radio tuner.
