Xbox Brand to focus more on Google/Apple than Sony?

[Mr Puggsly]

rocketpig said:

Apple isn't a powerhouse in every category but they've done really well for themselves in almost every market. While the entire PC market has been stagnating, they've gone from less than a 5% share to well over 10%. That's pretty impressive. We all know how well they've done in the iOS market. They haven't lost money on a product in years. Their track record is nearly impeccable since 2001 (and very successful since 1998 or so).

Apple has proven time and time again that if a product is better than the competition, it will sell in high volume at a premium price. Televisions are no different. If they really stick the landing on the iTV, a $1500-2000 price point will be successful (though I think they'll come in more at $800-1500). On top of that, I'm sure they will release a stand-alone set top box in the $99-199 range for those who don't want a full-blown Apple television set.

Will they succeed? I have no idea. I don't know how revolutionary the product will be or if it will be at all. But at this point, it's foolish to bet against Apple.

I believe the articles saying Apple has 10% of the PC market are just looking at the US. I'm having trouble finding a world market share because those articles include iOS devices. Basically, the internet is a clusterfuck of articles boasting about Apple and not giving the information I'm actually looking for. Anyhow, MS has been promoting Windows 8 for about a year now. The release of that should boost PC sales.

You're correct. Devices like the iPod, iPhone and iPad were successful primarily because they were better than the competition. However, when those devices launched the competition wasn't very good to begin with. Now that strong competition appeared, Apple is losing market share fast in the mobile market. Hence, Apple did amazing in markets with weak competition. But they never proved they can be a powerhouse in a market that already has strong competition.

Apple's televisions aren't just going to be competing with cheaper televisions. But they also have to compete with devices that connect to the television. AppleTV needs to do more than give us access to streaming media and play some games. So I'm curious to see what Apple has up their sleeve.