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Startups are missing the 'Mac opportunity'

updated 06:30 am EST, Fri March 18, 2005

The \'Mac opportunity\'


Startup companies that focus on Windows-only product launches are Business 2.0 says that companies' focus on the largest demographic and the most commonly used platform is misguided: "I think these companies are focusing too much on the numbers and missing the more promising opportunity. Why? Because rolling out a product for the Mac platform ensures a certain buzz and élan, which begets more buzz, which begets sales. Let me explain. By some estimates there are 5 million active Mac users. Not a lot, that's for sure. But among them are most of the influencers -- high-profile bloggers, most (if not all) technology journalists, and, of course, the hipsters."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. ingimar

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2003

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    03/18, 06:53am | report spam | Reply |

    5 million????

    I thought 25 million would be more appropriate.

  1. agentfive

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    Joined: Mar 1999

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    03/18, 07:22am | report spam | Reply |

    I agree with the article

    We released a mac game not more than a year ago - we got great press - good attention and our sales were 75% mac and 25% pc. We just couldn't get any attention in the crowded PC market.

  1. toti

    Junior Member

    Joined: Sep 2004

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    03/18, 07:59am | report spam | Reply |

    25 - counting classics...

    Perhaps it's 25 when counting the classic machines, but 5 is more appropriate. It's a question of up to date customers buying current products, not legacy customers buying yesteryears products :)

    ( Ingimar: Þú þarft nýtt fyrir nýtt, gamalt fyrir gamalt ;)

  1. jbignell

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    Joined: Mar 2005

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    03/18, 08:01am | report spam | Reply |

    Hard to be a mac comany

    It is really hard to be a Mac company.

    A couple of years ago I started an online streaming talk radio show. My studio engineer was a Mac user and I had always had Mac’s. The problem is that people don't come install with QuickTime as much as Windows Media Player. (QuickTime is growing)

    Microsoft vs. Apple really doesn't matter. I just want my listeners to visit our site and listen to our live show.... as easy as possible. When you have to add install to the list and then QuickTime comes with iTunes. It really turns people off because they are scared to installing another program.

    Our radio show is a paramedic talk radio show live every Tuesday. We would like to support QuickTime and Apple but it is hard!

    http://www.emslive.com

  1. MacScientist

    Junior Member

    Joined: Feb 2000

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    03/18, 08:25am | report spam | Reply |

    re:Hard 2 B a mac company

    You misunderstood. The opportunity under discussion is to be a company that caters to Mac users. We are not talking about Mac users trying to compete in the Windows market as is the case here.

  1. medmuse

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    03/18, 08:49am | report spam | Reply |

    Market

    I wonder what Apple is doing to increase (re-increase?) their presence in the education market? When I went to the University of Texas they had more Macs in their undergrad labs than anyone else. While I was there, Lab Administrators were givin lucrative "consulting" contracts from Microsoft and, shortly thereafter, for some reason PCs increased in number while Macs were not upgraded and became fewer and fewer. Soon the lab was 2/3 brand new high end Dell and 1/3 desktop G3 266s with broken mice and the faculty couldn't get any support for their own machines. I did research using an LC III because that is all they would give me (1996). Microsoft offered educational priced $5.00 Word and OS software and Apple did NOTHING. A new Mac at the student computer microstore was only about $100.00 cheaper than a egular reseller. I bought my Wallstreet cheaper through mail order. Now after all that loss in the market after spending so many years winning the education dollars, is Apple doing ANYTHING to capitalize on the iPOD success in High schools and Universities?

  1. PBG4 User

    Senior User

    Joined: Feb 2001

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    03/18, 08:58am | report spam | Reply |

    Re: Market

    Maybe you've missed all the articles over the last 3 years where secondary schools have been giving all students iBooks for educational use? There was (Herndon?) VA, Maine, and somewhere else in the midwest that I can think of off the top of my head. Also, don't forget about the XServe clusters that are popping up in both universities and research labs.

    Also, eductional discounts on hardware average 10-15% off regular price. I bought my PowerBook in 2003 and received $300 off as a student discount.

    Apple's software is even more heavily discounted. Some software like Final Cut Pro and Logic are discounted by about 50%. OS X upgrades have been $69 for students vs. $129 for everyone else. iLife has also been about $30 cheaper.

  1. rok

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 1999

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    03/18, 09:00am | report spam | Reply |

    re: re: market

    well, hate to be cynical, but austin is the seat of dell's power, you know. so it kinda makes sense that there would be a great deal of dell influence at u of texas.

  1. rok

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    03/18, 09:02am | report spam | Reply |

    re: article

    this is a point i have made to many folks in the past. to own a mac, you have to be willing to break from a certain course that the entire world is telling you to follow, and make a substantial investment in technology as a result. the user base of windows may be huge, but i would wager that the percentage of mac users willing to invest in new technologies is likely higher, because that's the mindset they needed to enter the mac fray to begin with.

    of course, you can't just ship a terrible mnac product, either, and mac users are a tight enough group that wor dof mouth will either make you, or kill you.

  1. piot

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Oct 2001

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    03/18, 09:05am | report spam | Reply |

    "but 5 is more .....

    Apple has sold more than 11 million systems with OS X as default.
    Many people have upgraded the OS on their older sytems.
    Even with die hard OS 9 users, and including people owning multiple systems, the OS X user figure must be closer to 10 million.

    Seeing as the whole reason for the article is about the potential of the " up to date" Mac market it ought to at least get close!

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