Is Apple Influencing the PC Industry's Decisions?

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.fastcompany.com/1736406/apples-basically-distorting-the-pc-industry-at-its-whim' target='_blank'>http://www.fastcompany.com/1736406/...try-at-its-whim</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Apple has some hot products on sale, and its designs push many an envelope. But are its decisions skewing the PC industry somewhat? The answer is yes."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1299637785.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I don't think there is any doubt that the announcement of the specs and pricing of the iPad 2 surprised some of the competitors. They control the supply, they buy in bulk, and when they change suppliers they can affect an entire industry. When you have that much control as well as control the operating system component, you pretty much dictate what the market does, especially evidenced by how they are playing catchup like they are doing with the iPad and upcoming iPad 2. At least that is how it appears to me. So do you think Apple is leading the way in technology for the betterment of an industry or is it more sinister? Or could it be both?</p>

[Dyvim]

I don't think there is any doubt that the announcement of the specs and pricing of the iPad 2 surprised some of the competitors.
Any competitors who were surprised by iPad 2's specs and pricing really ought to think about another line of work, IMO. It was hardly a surprise that iPad 2 kept the same price points and got a faster processor and camera for video chat. Or that it got lighter and thinner. They might have been surprised by how much thinner it got or by the new case design, but that would be about it. Ok, maybe the graphics bump (9x better performance) was better than expected.

[AndyMulhearn]

Agree with Dyvim, once the current Apple incarnation gets a product into the marketplace the evolve it with revolutionary changes coming only infrequently. To expect major change in iPad 2 was a little short-sighted.

What must be more worrying is the clout that Apple has with vendors - here's a couple of billion USD for your next three years manufacturing output of nand flash/screens/processors whatever. That must make Apple really hard to compete with in this market where they're seeming to keep their margins at a level where it's painful for anyone to stay with them.

Regardless of what you think of their attitude on the sales channel and DRM, which I don't think is as bad as some seem to, it's a brave company that tries to get into the tablet market at the moment, IMHO.

[Michael Knutson]

I'd agree with what has been written so far ... Right now, Apple has a winning formula for selling product, and they're pushing the advantage to the hilt. Looking at the bottom line (shareholder value) is job one for Apple, despite their protestations to the contrary at times. Helps to have a few billion $$$ lying around to buy up all the components on the planet ...

Based on Apple's history of ups and downs, it seems like they want to build up a safety net/cushion for when and if their business takes a down-turn. They're doing a pretty decent job - I remember the days when they were nearly driven out of business by their own poor decisions ...