It was another Monday, and, as usual, I let my heart sink as I read
that Apple's stock was down another 65 cents. I've been trying to keep
optimistic about Apple's stock situation, but it has not peaking over
the 20's in the last few months. Then came last Wednesday, when I was
happy to see Apple up just a bit over a dollar in the morning. I
continued with my daily routine and was thrilled to see Steve Jobs
announce a profitable quarter that afternoon. The stock went up at
least an extra point and a half; it closed at $22.79.
I write this Wednesday night, when the future of Apple, both the
company and the stock, look promising. Apple is expecting more
profitable quarters in the coming months, and Steve Jobs has hinted at
new product announcements in the coming year. Because of this, I have
set high expectations for Apple and have faith that the company will
meet them.
As we head into the future, it is good to know what made this past
quarter such a profitable one. A number of different products and
strategies contributed to its success, but I credit most of it to Mac
OS X and the extremely popular PowerBook G4. Without these,
Apple's 2nd quarter may have borne more resemblance to its 1st (not a
pretty sight).
Mac OS X, introduced March 24th, grossed an amazing $19 million
in sales in its first week alone. By now, Mac OS X sales are
probably far beyond that. It is the "think different" aspect of the
operating system, combined with a fun (but not too cute) interface,
that makes Mac OS X such a popular piece of software. I believe
that it is stuff like this that contributes to Apple's success.
Products that "think different" just enough to attract attention, but
not enough to make people feel like too much attention is attracted to
them while using it (Blue Dalmatian iMac,
anyone?).
The other product that many attribute Apple's comeback to is the
PowerBook G4. Obviously, there are a number of things that contribute
to the PowerBook's success, but I think the most important one is its
design. Combining the size and weight of a mini-laptop, with the power
and speed of a G4 processor is groundbreaking (not too mention that you
don't have to lug around an external CD drive with you wherever you go,
like many of the PowerBook's competitors).
Although Mac OS X and the Titanium PowerBook G4 were the most
influential Mac products released this past quarter, there have been a
number of other software releases and Mac revisions which have surely
affected Apple's sales. These include the new iMacs (Apple has just
celebrated its 5 millionth iMac sale), iDVD, iTunes, the speed bumped
Power Mac G4s, and
Apple's professional DVD product, DVD Studio Pro.
Apple's product line will only become more successful as the company
releases revisions to its Macs this year. It's software line is sure to
be booming through 2002, as Apple has plans to enhance it with even
more consumer media programs similar to iTunes, iDVD, and iMovie.
My only complaints are the Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power iMacs,
which I don't think say very much for the Mac community. Other than
that, congrats to Apple for a profitable quarter!
