http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/microsoft-exec-says-apple-asked-them-stop-airing-laptop-hunters/
Apple may have publicly responded to Microsoft's Laptop Hunters ads with a counterpunch of its own back in May, but it looks like it may have been singing a slightly different tune behind the scenes more recently, at least according to Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Turner. Speaking at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference earlier today, Turner said that he knows the ads are working because "two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying [...] 'Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.'" Turner further went on to note that "they took like $100 off or something," before stating to applause that it "was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business" -- though he did apparently take a minute to ask: "Is this a joke? Who are you?" In case you're wondering, Turner also confirmed that Microsoft is indeed "just going to keep running them and running them and running them."
Update: Apple has just dropped down to #5 in laptop sales in the US
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10288275-1.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Crave
According to research firm IDG, Apple has dropped from the No. 4 purveyor of laptops in the US last year to No. 5 this spring. The firm estimates Apple has shipped 12.5-percent fewer laptops than the same time last year, even as it maintained its 7.6-percent market share.
Leapfrogging Apple to take the No. 4 spot is Toshiba, now estimated to be shipping 7.7-percent of all laptops in the US, thanks to system such as the Mini NB205 Netbook. If you're keeping score, IDG estimates that Dell remains No. 1, with 26.3 percent of the market, closely followed by HP, with Acer showing strong year-over-year growth to hit 12.6 percent of the American market. It looks as if all those $299 Aspire One Netbooks are starting to pay off.
Naturally, this has tongues wagging over whether Apple will release a less-expensive product, such as a Netbook-style laptop, in order to regain some market share (not that it ever takes much to get the chattering classes predicting cheaper MacBooks).
We've seen plenty of rumors about Apple mini-notebooks and tablets, but will a few quarters of recession-addled shoppers really force Apple to go back on their long-stated desire to stay out of the bottom rungs of the market? What do you think? Sound off below!
