| | Weekend News Alert: Is Steve Going to Sell Apple? Don Thinks So - 14 June 99.
Highlights from news over the weekend included a controversial article by none other than Mr. Controversy, Don Crabb. Like his piece a few weeks ago on Apple and the enterprise, Don once again gets readers all wound up over his article on Steve prepping Apple for sale and other theories. Don claims that third-party sources, close to both Apple and Steve Jobs, state that Steve has rebuilt Apple in order for it to be sold. This harks back to rumors earlier this year over the Disney, Pixar, Apple mega merger wherein Disney would acquire both Apple and Pixar in both a cash and stock deal worth billions. Don's argument goes something like this, and it hinges on the issue, "what did Steve Jobs save Apple for?" For what purpose? Don reasons, so long as Apple doesn't enter the enterprise market (where corporations' mindshare and back pocket are targets for Apple) Apple doesn't stand a chance of ever competing again with Microsoft's Windows hegemony, and thus will always remain a "niche" market player. While that might be true, it doesn't mean Apple isn't interested in business computing or enterprise. Here are his assumptions (faulty and otherwise) behind the reasoning: - Don falsely assumes that because Apple is not interested in addressing the enterprise market "now" that they are not interested in it period. My comment to that is, while Apple's focus has shifted to its consumer side products (an area that was suffering previous to the arrival of the iMac) that shift is there to allow Apple to grab market share from the fastest growing computer segment: "first time" home computer buyers. The low end consumer desktop is where the marketshare battle is largest and Apple needs to pull off some solid numbers in order to both impress Wall Street and garner developer support. More units, more software. It's that simple.
- Don also assumes that because Steve Jobs has stated that he wants Apple to be the Sony of computing that it must mean a more permanent focus on "consumer" computing, and by extension to "content"-focused computing models (such as TV Set-Top Boxes, etc.) Clearly, Apple does have a place in the consumer market and references to Sony can mean many things other than emphasis on "content". In many ways Steve's references to Sony reflect his admiration for that company's brand identity and strength and reputation for engineering and building great products. Sony is number one in consumer electronics. Steve probably wants Apple to be number one in computers to the same extent, in people's minds, in which Sony is number one. At one time Apple had that reputation, and they can get it back by recapturing the public's confidence and imagination. The iMac was one very important step in that direction, as will be the consumer portable. These are hardware steps, not "content" steps.
- Don seems to think that because of QuickTime 4 the idea that Apple is being prepared for selling and being a "content"-focused company passes the "bullshit test". Maybe, but I don't think so. For one thing, QuickTime 4 may always work on the seven percent of Macintosh's out there, but to make a content business really work with a parent company like Disney or TimeWarner, you need a broader marketshare than that. Why would any of these companies buy Apple to reach an initial seven percent (or even the 5 million QT 4 owners out there) when it would be much cheaper for them to partner with Microsoft or RealNetworks and reach a far wider audience of mostly PC's using video streaming products from either of those two companies? If there is money in content, why spend so much money on Apple to go after a sure seven percent audience? Why buy QuickTime when most of the world is running Windows and its new media player? Does Don think Bill Gates is just going to roll over and surrender video streaming on the Windows platform?
And even if all of these assumptions were to hold water -- and some of them can -- why would Steve sell his baby after coming back and working on it so hard? After losing it in the first place in the mid 80's? And does anybody on the Apple Board of Directors actually think that after all this loyalty, after all this trust and faith in a company, and this amazing degree of patience, that the "Apple-loyal" are going to allow the company and its Mac OS to be placed in potential jeopardy all over again when the company is doing so well? Why in God's earth would we allow that when Apple is doing just fine, superfine even? Is Don in "thinking jail"? |
