To keep market share, PC makers aping Apple

Posted Jan 4th 2008 8:35AM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), Dell (DELL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iMac Depending on who is counting, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has 5% or 6% of the U.S. computer market. That number may have spiked in December. Now the PC companies are in a mad rush to build products that look like Macs.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Spurred in part by the success of Apple Inc.'s innovative products, as well as a consumer shift toward notebook computers, PC makers have begun a radical overhaul of their machines' appearance." That means thinner notebooks, more colorful housings, better keyboards, and improved processing power.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) have already launched upgraded machines and are likely to come out with more as the year passes.

But will being "Mac-like" be enough? Probably not. The Apple machine has a sort of aura from being associated with the iPod and iPhone company. Very few people consider Dell a sexy brand.

So, what do the PC companies do? Probably add lower prices to new features. Macs are expensive. A recession is probably coming. "Cool" may be nice, but not when a consumer can't afford it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Tags: AAPL, Apple, design, inthenews, iPhone, iPod, Mac, PC, personal computers, PersonalComputers, style

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-04-2008 @ 10:57AM

Jeff said...

this will be about as effective as ford gluing cheesy fake air vents to the fender.

1-04-2008 @ 12:54PM

Jim Higgins said...

HP is making big mistake in cancelling nearly 70% of it's current service providers. The customer will be forced to travel over 100 miles to get warranty service for such products as laptops, laser printers etc. in the midwest. HP in there wisdom is punishing dealers who traditionally sold the high end servers, laptops and PC's with the standard 3 year warranty. Service authorizations are being based on selling extended warranties. If you own the stock say good by to it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!