Ballmer blasts Apple- "tide has really turned back"
updated 06:00 pm EDT, Fri March 20, 2009
Ballmer blasts Apple
Steve Ballmer, speaking at a The McGraw-Hill Companies' 2009 Media Summit in New York, blasted Apple when asked about the momentum that Macs have been gaining in the computer market, according to TechFlash. Ballmer reacted quickly and claimed that the opposite is true. "Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction," he said.
Ballmer likely was referring to recent analyst reports suggesting that Mac sales dropped by 12 percent in February, following a six percent slide in January. Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray believes, however, that the latest iMac and Mac mini models will contribute to better numbers for March.
Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu expressed similar views, noting that Apple should prove mostly immune to the negative effects of the recession. Historically, the company's shipment fluctuations appear to follow product cycles closer than economic swings. For February, Apple's numbers were up against the MacBook Air launch last year which contributed to a 60 percent jump for the respective time period.
Aside from raw shipment numbers, Apple has maintained its ASPs while the overall PC market has seen a price collapse. The Mac-maker holds an ASP above $1400, as Dell computers dropped to around $800 and HP devices fell to near $600.
The Microsoft executive did not stop with the market numbers, adding his own opinion which is sure to fuel the Mac versus PC rivalry. "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be," Ballmer said.
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RDF?
Talk about a "Reality Distortion Field". Every time he speaks to the press I feel like he tries to badmouth another company figuring that the majority of readers/listeners will never bother to learn the truth and will take his words at face value.