Sleeper Service

Is There an Unprecedented Demand for 3G iPhone?

That'll be 56% of a small sample of US people then?

Besides, I wouldn't take too much notice of that stat - 33% of 40,000 people surveyed just after the original iPhone's release said they would buy it and then quite clearly didn't.

blogs.zdnet.com/Orchan...

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

For shame, Zach...

"The content of the survey is irrelevant,"

Well, no it isn't. It seems that a survey has indicated that the majority of CIOs in this sample do not see the iPhone as a viable corporate device. I can't comment if the CIOs were cherry picked or what the distribution of Fortune 500 and other companies was, however the message remains the same. You can't ignore this and then go on to claim that 35% of Fortune 500 companies are working with Apple - and actually, they're not - 35% have tested the SDK, this isn't the same thing as 'working with Apple'.

Perhaps you'd care to comment on what percentage of Fortune 500 companies actually use rather than 'are testing' Blackberries as a comparison?

"Toni has a history of twisting the facts to suit some underlying agenda, this is clear, the whole industry knows it."

Undoubtedly. That's why I say his survey has its flaws.

"Secondly, the iPhone isn't about it's individual features and how they stack up against other gadgets. No sir! The iPhone is about the ecosphere that Apple has built around it."

Really? Is that the same 'ecosphere' that has no significant corporate presence? Because I believe we are talking about the corporate sector are we not?

"There is NO other device or manufacturer that stacks up. Apple and iPhone are THE standard, RIMM is very, very nervous about their long-term prospects in this light."

Nonsense. The iPhone is a very good phone but there are other very good phones out there and due for release. Perhaps it's because I'm European but we tend to be a little fussier over our devices. I'm sure the iPhone will do well but it's not a world beater, at least not outside the US anyway which, it seems, is the story for most Apple products with the exception of the iconic iPod.
Optimism, whilst nice, is no substitute for reality.

Not Buying It: Sanford Analyst Toni Sacconaghi's iPhone Hit Job

So, on one hand we have Toni Sacconaghi's analysis which is downbeat and on the other we have Zach Bass' which is upbeat.

Both have their faults, unfortunately.

It's true that Toni's analysis was conducted in May, however, by that time the market already knew that the iPhone would have MS Exchange support, an app store and 3G was likely. The GPS and lower initial cost - but actually higher TCO - wouldn't really change the CIO's opinions if we're being honest here. We can't therefore say that this invalidates the research.

The iPhone is a mobile computer but then again so what? So are Symbians, WinMos and even Blackberries to a degree. All have processing capacity, all have applications, all have corporate e-mail so what new stuff of substance is Apple actually bringing to the party? Nothing much apparently.

I think the iPhone will get some corporate market share, but displace the 800 lb gorilla that is RIM? Not a chance in hell. Entrenchment is a powerful blocker, especially when the competition doesn't bring anything new to the table.

The sad thing is that Zach then goes onto some tedious attacks on Toni's missed estimates without then comparing to some of the missed estimates on the positive side. These attacks just diminish his own credibility.

Nokia in Light of the 3G iPhone

OS iPhone is a cut down version of OS with the same Mach kernel and extensions. It's not full OSX in the same way that WinMo isn't full Windows but instead based on Win32 API.

As for Symbian, it's not a desktop operating system but then, frankly, it doesn't need to be. It is, however, an OS for handheld computers.

A word of advice: roughlydrafted.com isn't exactly the most credible source in the world.

Can Apple Double Its iPhone Sales Goal?

So... what's the iPhone's penetration rate in the European markets where it's been on sale? Because I'm going to bet that it's not 3%.

Apple: Next Leg Up Will Be From Enterprise Accounts

Thomas,

You're missing a point here. Companies don't buy individual units, they have contractual agreements with suppliers. Furthermore no large scale company is going to be interested in the Airbook as an option for its managers - it doesn't have the versatility or the capabilities of the favoured Lenovo or HP brands. Furthermore you have additional license costs for Windows - which you need to run Office 2007 - in particular MS Access.

Your second assertion is just as silly. OSX Leopard is a bit better than Vista but not sufficiently so to justify the expense of switching to a new platform for most businesses who, in any event, stick with XP as it's tried and tested and a very, very good OS. The fact that Apple's US market share remained flat through XP's tenure and has only increased by perhaps a couple of percentage points despite the disappointment of Vista should tell you that there is no real Corporate appetite for Apple products. This situation is even apparent if you look globally where Apple's market share remains about 2-3%.

Apple's New MacBook: Favorable Price Comparison to Dell

shawn, you miss the point: This is analysis is worthless as they're not comparing like for like. The Inspiron range is the comparable product for the Macbook, the XPS is more comparable for the Macbook Pro and Air. To exclude the Inspiron because it's a 'mass brand' (which means what exactly? That it sells a lot?) is stupid because of the configuration options available on the product.

As for OSX, it's a nice personal OS but it's not really suitable for business because it doesn't run the software that large businesses use. Sure, you could run Parallels or use Boot Camp but you're still going to have to pay extra for a copy of XP or Vista and that just isn't economical.

It is better than Vista at the moment, but the differences are minimal as far as the average user is concerned and it's not going to make any difference to the mass market. You're also off on XP - with SP2 (and SP3 coming) it's a very good and stable OS. I actually find the fact that Apple had to release five versions of their OS in the same time a bit alarming.

Don't let your love of Apple distort the facts here.

Apple's New MacBook: Favorable Price Comparison to Dell

Considering the XPS M1330 is actually Dell's current ultraportable you should really be comparing it to the Air. And, in fairness, you should be using a better spec than the one listed.

What should be compared is the Inspiron 1420. This gets you a 2.4 GHz Penryn, a bigger hard drive (250 GB) and more RAM (3 GB) for $1,049.

Fair comparisons are fun, aren't they?