Apple: next Dell or Gateway?
updated 08:35 pm EDT, Fri April 7, 2006
Fool analyzes AAPL future
Apple could end up as the next Dell if things go its way or as the next Gateway, if its luck runs out, according to a Fool.com column. Based on calculations, the columnist says that Apple's stock in 2011 could be worth as much as $137 -- or double its current value. "Dell is strictly a hardware company, dependent on a hyperefficient supply chain. Apple, on the other hand, is a systems company that depends on software. Apple has long been known as a premium supplier. Dell? Not so much. Yet in spite of these obvious differences, Dell and Apple have come to resemble each other much more than in years past. For example, Apple is now a price- and brand-conscious supplier whose goal is to move volume (witness colossal iPod sales). To me, that sounds an awful lot like Dell in 1998, especially when you compare that year's hypergrowth PC market to the equally hot market emerging in mobile media." The column concludes that that "Apple may end up as the next Gateway. Or it may be the next Dell. Personally, I think the latter is much more likely."
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2001
neither
i don't think you can compare apple to either company. dell is just a highly efficient manufacturer, excellent supply channel management and ruthless negotiator in terms component suppliers. gateway is just a soon to be out of business box maker. both companies could be marginalized and eliminated in the blink of an eye. gateway is already on its way out and dell, well as soon as someone decides they want to make even less profit per box than dell they will disappear too.