Apple Could Finally Sell More Devices Than Microsoft In 2017 (computerworld.com) 98
Gartner predicts Apple will ship more iOS and macOS devices in 2017 than Windows-powered devices "for the first time this century," and then increase their lead over the next two years. An anonymous reader quotes Computerworld:
Gartner predicted that iOS + macOS, unlike Windows, will recover in 2017. Apple's OSes will climb 8% to 268 million this year, add 3% in 2018 to reach 276 million, then increase another 3% in 2019, with that year's device shipment forecast at 285 million. Windows will dip this year, then stagnate for the following two years... The gap between Microsoft and Apple -- 12 million last year, with Microsoft atop -- will widen to 27 million by 2019, advantage Apple.
"The global devices market is stagnating," said Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal in a statement Wednesday. Mobile phone shipments are growing only in emerging markets in the Asia and Pacific markets, Atwal added, and noted that "The PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline." The PC industry's troubles have affected Microsoft most of all; Windows is almost entirely dependent on PC shipments, which have been stuck in a protracted slump. Future shipments were further hit when Microsoft walked away from the smartphone business last year.
The article also points out that even in 2016, Windows devices came in second, and "accounted for approximately 11.2% of the total devices, which overwhelmingly ran Google's Android."
"The global devices market is stagnating," said Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal in a statement Wednesday. Mobile phone shipments are growing only in emerging markets in the Asia and Pacific markets, Atwal added, and noted that "The PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline." The PC industry's troubles have affected Microsoft most of all; Windows is almost entirely dependent on PC shipments, which have been stuck in a protracted slump. Future shipments were further hit when Microsoft walked away from the smartphone business last year.
The article also points out that even in 2016, Windows devices came in second, and "accounted for approximately 11.2% of the total devices, which overwhelmingly ran Google's Android."
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yes yes, you are a very special snowflake who needs special computers.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Number of fucks given: (Score:1)
Uhhh... yeah it did but right now Apple is asleep at the wheel while Microsoft is actually innovating. The Linux subsystem in Windows 10 is very awesome.
As a long time Mac user (12 years) I'm getting ready to go to Windows as sad as that is for me.
Re: (Score:2)
And Apple has had a *very* robust BSD subsystem since 2001. I'm so glad you're so excited about the Linux subsystem, my we Mac users have actually been getting work done with BSD tools for the last 15 years.
"which overwhelmingly ran Google's Android." (Score:2, Insightful)
And every Android device sold gives Microsoft 5-15 dollars of pure profit because of licensing agreements.
Re: (Score:1)
It seems really backwards to be rooting for either apple or Android, since both are walled gardens compared to any PC platform.
Have you seen Win10?
Re: (Score:2)
Last I checked, Microsoft doesn't have to approve every application I run on my Windows computer. I can run any application I want. How is Win10 more restrictive than iOS or Android? When was the last time you were prevented from having root on your PC?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
What does that have to do with walled garden policies of Apple and Google which prevent you from running whatever apps you want? Forced updates is nothing new, Google does that as well, and I would assume that Apple does as well, but I don't use them. The forced updates were to fix an issue, the enormous issue of zombie PCs from clueless users. Many users ignore updates indefinately because they don't understand the risk, or don't want to deal with them. Microsoft was trying to fix this issue by making
Re: (Score:1)
What does that have to do with walled garden policies of Apple and Google which prevent you from running whatever apps you want? Forced updates is nothing new, Google does that as well, and I would assume that Apple does as well, but I don't use them.
What does that have to do with the question posed? That of not being in control of your OS. FYI - MS forces new code on you regardless of your desires, you will get new features, removed functions, bug fixes, and yes, security fixes.
To address your question, I run what I want on both my iOS and Android devices. Granted, I'm a dev on both, but hey, not everyone gets to code their cars either....
Re: (Score:2)
AC
It seems really backwards to be rooting for either apple or Android, since both are walled gardens compared to any PC platform.
You
Have you seen Win10?
Me
Last I checked, Microsoft doesn't have to approve every application I run on my Windows computer. I can run any application I want. How is Win10 more restrictive than iOS or Android? When was the last time you were prevented from having root on your PC?
...
You
What does that have to do with the question posed? That of not being in control of your OS.
Question answered by reading the thread. You responded to someone complaining about a walled garden, not about control of the OS. Did you not read what you replied to above? You are the one who seems to be derailing the thread, I pointed that out to you, as MS doesn't have a walled garden, they allow you to run whatever you want on your PC.
Re: (Score:1)
Question answered by reading the thread. You responded to someone complaining about a walled garden, not about control of the OS. Did you not read what you replied to above? You are the one who seems to be derailing the thread, I pointed that out to you, as MS doesn't have a walled garden, they allow you to run whatever you want on your PC.
If you don't have control of your OS (which you do on your phones at least as far as upgrades go) then you are in a worse position than a walled garden. If you don't see the much graver implications there, you're not seeing the forest for the trees.
Re: (Score:2)
The question you should be asking than is, "should normal users have control over thier updates", MS's answer to that is no, because they never run them. If you feel that you, as an advanced user, should be given control over your updates, buy the correct version of Windows, the one designed for more advanced users, Windows 10 Pro. No one is losing control of their updates but the people who never controlled them in the first place. If you have issues with MS taking steps towards security that they were
Re: (Score:1)
The question you should be asking than is, "should normal users have control over thier updates", MS's answer to that is no, because they never run them. If you feel that you, as an advanced user, should be given control over your updates, buy the correct version of Windows, the one designed for more advanced users, Windows 10 Pro.
You get no meaningful control under Win10 Pro either. It's lip service at best. You will still be upgraded, with or without your consent.
No one is losing control of their updates but the people who never controlled them in the first place. If you have issues with MS taking steps towards security that they were constantly slammed for in the past, then what is your solution to the problem? How would you handle the majority of users that never run security updates and therefore have zombie PCs and IOT devices participating in botnets?
Actually, I could support "forced updates" if that avenue was solely used for necessary security updates for things that were actually on my machine, which only fixed the actual bugs and didn't change behavior nor added anything new to the system. MS has consistently been unwilling to offer such a real security patch set, instead always leveraging updates to add and change
Phones and computers vs computers? (Score:2, Informative)
I mean, come on. Microsoft isn't even "shipping" these devices in the first place.
But since when does comparing apples and oranges to just oranges not make you a joke?
Re: Phones and computers vs computers? (Score:4, Insightful)
To be fair, Microsoft has been making phone software far longer than Apple. Everyone forgets about it though, because it's been shit for 16+ years.
Re: Phones and computers vs computers? (Score:4, Interesting)
Wait, I would say MSFT had a decent mobile OS (relatively) from 2001-2007. I remember at the first iPhone (iOS 1), WM2005 had far more functionality (etc. GPS, apps, handwriting support). WM was better than PalmOS because I moved from the Palm m505 over to the HP iPaq 1910 and then to the GPS iPaq smartphone (don't remember the model number). iPhone didn't get gps support until the iPhone 3G.
So MSFT only screwed up the last 10 years of mobile development. It's the tortoise and hare problem. MSFT exceeded features and crushed the existing competitions (Palm, Netscape, Lotus, WordPerfect) and then sat around getting pass by new competitions (iOS, Android, Chrome).
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, I liked my WM phones as well, starting with the very first XDA and ending with HTC HD2 (although the latter wasn't as comfortable to use as expected due to the bloody capacitive display). Some functionality was way better than even on current android phones.
Re: (Score:2)
(although the latter wasn't as comfortable to use as expected due to the bloody capacitive display)
Resistive display? Current phones have capactive displays, and I can't say I have heard them called bloody...unless you are bludgening people with the latest thin phones.
Re: (Score:2)
Would you feel better if I call it a "goddamn capacitive display"?
HTC HD2 had a capacitive touchscreen and I hated it. I prefer resistive touchscreens, they are much more precise and can be operated with anything.
Re: (Score:2)
PocketPC and it's descendants are shit
That's exactly what I was thinking. Years ago I had the pleasure of supporting a bunch of Nokia (dumb) phones, a couple of iPhones, and about 20 Blackberries. None of them were really much of a problem, except the one idiot manager who insisted on having a windows phone. I was the one lumbered with supported the stupid thing until my boss talked him into getting an iPhone.
Re: (Score:1)
In 1997, Windows CE was the best of the best of the best with honors. Its competition was garbage like Newton and Palm. Not a high bar, but a bar nonetheless. iOS wasn't even an itch in Steve Jobs' left asscheek yet. Android was in a similar place (that is, not even at the "wouldn't it be great?" stage yet).
In 2007, Windows Mobile 6 (running on the CE 5.2 kernel) was mature and established. Its competition was Blackberry and the original iPhone (before it had a name for its OS). Android was relatively unhea
Re: (Score:1)
Bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
Predictions are not worth the toilet paper they are printed on.
Apple has suffered from a lack of progress ever since Jobs died. They are treading water... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster. 'Predicting' that they will succeed and Microsoft will falter is dubious.
The only real winner is Google, with Over 3/4 of the market for device operating systems.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
Technically, Mac OS X is not FULLY closed source.
Technically, OSX is open source compared to Windows.
Re: (Score:1)
I agree regarding the lack of innovation at Apple.
But regarding sales, look at the chart at the bottom of the article. Apple has been catching up to Microsoft, in terms of devices sold, whose OS comes from Apple vs. Microsoft. If Apple's iPhone sales recover this year, then more Apple-OS devices might be sold than Microsoft-OS devices.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Gartner has always been known in the techie world as the king of mumbo jumbo. Their bullshit quadrants are only good to show to PHBs and customers alike.
Sounds like a typical opinion of someone who's personal opinion doesn't agree with an analysist's.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster ...
Do you mean the new 12" MacBook or the MacBook line in it's entirety? People keep comparing the MacBook to much bigger more powerful laptops and putting it down because it doesn't have the horsepower to run insanely resource intensive stuff like BioShock, Titanfall or Doom (mind you I have hooked my MacBook up to a 4K display and played video without getting so much as a stutter) but that kind of misses the point. If I want to play games I'll buy a console and I don't see the MacBook as a drop in replacemen
Re: (Score:2)
A few years back, I caused a commotion. In an Apple Developers Meeting, I simply asked when LabView was returning to OSX, and when it would be available for this new iOS thingy. "Apple does not comment on these matters." was the response. Yet a couple of days later, I got a CD, sent anonymously through the Lab Mail, with pretty much everything included that I could wish for. And so, true development of this Internet happily continues.
I was horrified by your comment regarding LabView on OS X, being old enough to remember LabView being Mac-only.
It looks like LabView Full and Professional are available for Mac. I assume that means OS X, right? So what were you talking about?
Re: (Score:2)
Predictions are not worth the toilet paper they are printed on.
Apple has suffered from a lack of progress ever since Jobs died. They are treading water... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster. 'Predicting' that they will succeed and Microsoft will falter is dubious.
The only real winner is Google, with Over 3/4 of the market for device operating systems.
Show me anyone's laptop which is fundamentally different now than it was in 2013.
Re: (Score:2)
Show me anyone's laptop which is fundamentally different now than it was in 2013.
Even $400 bargain machines at Best Buy have touch screen and/or are convertible. Many models have powerful GPU that are required for VR devices. The Yoga Book keyboard can work as a drawing board. The Razer Blade Stealth has a 4k display and an external plug-in GPU. MSI has a laptop that can track eye movement and use it to control video game cameras. The list goes on but the Macbook is not on it.
Re: (Score:2)
Show me anyone's laptop which is fundamentally different now than it was in 2013.
Even $400 bargain machines at Best Buy have touch screen and/or are convertibl
Which was all the hype in 2013. So what is new again?
Re: (Score:2)
Show me anyone's laptop which is fundamentally different now than it was in 2013.
Even $400 bargain machines at Best Buy have touch screen and/or are convertibl
Which was all the hype in 2013. So what is new again?
Except for Macbooks, right? As for what else is new, look at the rest of the post you truncated in your reply.
Re: (Score:2)
. So what is new again?
Macbooks
So you finally admt everything you claimed so far is wrong. Well, that's a certainly new.
No Need to Exaggeate (Score:4, Informative)
Apple has suffered from a lack of progress ever since Jobs died. They are treading water... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster.
Not entirely correct. After Jobs died they had a year or two of progress before it petered out and it only took they 1.5 years to update the MacBook - but what we got was over expensive crap, not just lacklustre. It is the Mac itself, specifically the Mac Pro, which they have not updated for ~4 years and which they still attempt to sell for full price which is appalling.
It is hard to see how this prediction will come true unless there is a surge in iOS devices because at the moment Apple have no mac machines which can compete with PCs and MS is now clearly out innovating them with its surface line. It's bad enough that my next laptop will be the new Dell XPS 15 - the CPU and GPU are both better than the new MacBook pros, it has both USB-C and USB-A (see Apple you can put both on a laptop), the keyboard actually moves, the entire screen is touch-based and it costs $1,000 less. I can't see how Apple will grow with competition like this. macOS may be better then Windows 10 but Windows 10 has improved enormously and you can always use Linux if you need to.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple has suffered from a lack of progress ever since Jobs died. They are treading water... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster. 'Predicting' that they will succeed and Microsoft will falter is dubious.
On the other hand they got a friend of mine who hasn't worn a watch since 1998 to buy an Apple Watch. Actually two, first he bought one for his significant other and then he got jealous and bought one for himself. I know anecdotes aren't data, but Apple doesn't have to defend every market they're in as long as they grow new ones. I could see Apple launching a 2-in-1 convertible like the Surface Pro and decide between that and iCloud they don't care much about having any other kind of Mac. It would be enough
Re: (Score:2)
Apple has suffered from a lack of progress ever since Jobs died. They are treading water... it took them 5 years to update the MacBook, and what we got was lackluster. 'Predicting' that they will succeed and Microsoft will falter is dubious.
On the other hand they got a friend of mine who hasn't worn a watch since 1998 to buy an Apple Watch. Actually two, first he bought one for his significant other and then he got jealous and bought one for himself. I know anecdotes aren't data, but Apple doesn't have to defend every market they're in as long as they grow new ones. I could see Apple launching a 2-in-1 convertible like the Surface Pro and decide between that and iCloud they don't care much about having any other kind of Mac. It would be enough for a vast majority of the PC users and the rest would simply be a market Apple won't serve.
I'm willing to bet that your friend is an outlier, one of the few who can afford to spend $370 for a watch, not just once but twice. Yes, there is a market for the Apple watch, but it currently isn't anywhere near big enough to push apple device sales to the levels being discussed.
As for Apple creating a convertible laptop, why? All they really need to do is create an iPad that runs OSX, but then they would eat into the Mac market. In fact, Time Cook has already said that they wouldn't do this... http: [macrumors.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I hate to say this, but this is the perfect time to insert the why is this news, comment. Garner had proven over and over to be useless. Palm readers would be as reliable. That would be news.
The news is that Gartner no longer predicts a bright future for Windows Phones.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple does not exist in a vacuum, it does not have to do everything right as long as it's competitors are screwing up more. So Apple did enough to sell people privacy, rather than selling their privacy versus M$'s attitude to people's privacy, it's up for sale to the highest bidder to be manipulated any way they want to.
M$ being a pack of arrogant perves means as consumer devices they just come off as really undesirable, the only thing keeping MS Orifice and Windows Probe going are existing customer lock i
Can we please have $30 a year? (Score:2)
No tracking. No gimmicks.
Seriously!
I know it's not billions but it's at least a 100 million a year. They should have stayed there and been grateful with 50 employees.
Absolutely right! (Score:4, Funny)
The part they are leaving out is that everyone will also be installing Linux on those devices because 2017 is finally going to be the year of the Linux Desktop! ;)
Re: (Score:2)
The biggest mistake Microsoft made with windows phone was charging a license fee for the OS. It should have been free for all manufactures to use.
That's a tough business case to make. Microsoft makes around 3 billions a year with Windows Phone. Would they really have a bigger market share if they had given that away? Would it be worth more than 3 billions for them?
Look at Windows desktop. They make 12 billions a year just on OEM licenses even though everyone is announcing the Death of PC. Microsoft is a profit machine, year in year out, and this is because they sell stuff they don't give it away.
Re: (Score:2)
... more and more PC owners are learning they don't need to ditch their 3 year old computer and can instead opt to upgrade it. SSD, more RAM, and a new graphics card and their old machine is better than new. But they do buy those extras and upgrades... can we count those as device buys?
No, because how does Microsoft make any money off someone who upgrades their graphics card and storage, but who doesn't buy a new Windows license? Or did Microsoft start manufacturing graphics cards and SSD's when I wasn't looking?
Yaz
Re: (Score:2)
No, because how does Microsoft make any money off someone who upgrades their graphics card and storage, but who doesn't buy a new Windows license?
Office 365 (slightly tongue in cheek)
And maybe a Windows 365 Enterprise subscription (which if it lets a single user put Windows Enterprise (with control over updates, no telemetry, etc etc...) on his gaming desktop, his laptop, and his HTPC... for one price (the same way office 365 works) that might well be alluring to "people who care".
While the "people who don't" will run home/pro and suffer Microsoft's "management" of their PC.
more and more PC owners are learning they don't need to ditch their 3 year old computer and can instead opt to upgrade it. SSD, more RAM, and a new graphics card and their old machine is better than new.
OTOH... more and more mac owners are learning that their new Mac will only e
Yeah, because their biz is in forced obsolesce (Score:2, Insightful)
Apple has pretty much perfected the passive aggressive forced obsolescence thing.
They don't actively force you to upgrade anything. They just make sure you can't downgrade any of their handhelds (unless you take it into the service center, then you're getting upgraded to the latest iOS whether you want it or not- good chance if you've got an older device, this will intentionally cripple it by installing a slower OS).
All their software basically requires the latest greatest OS as soon as they're able to pull
Re: (Score:3)
if you buy an apple gadget it will be supported with apple software for at least 4 years. With 3rd party softwares even longer. My 5 year old desktop (ok now it's 6, also it's an ubuntu AFS server for my apple stuffs) can't install win10. Long gone are the times when you could install m$ software on old hw...
Plus if as an IT tech guy you can't buy new gadgets every 4 years then change jobs. Pass down old stuffs to kids. Or to some elderly neighbors.
Windows 10 will install perfectly fine on almost any 5/6 year old desktop. My Dad has two generations of my old desktops and they are 7 and 10 years old and they run Windows 10 just fine. Granted, both were upgrades from Windows 7, but it proves that Windows 10 will run on older hardware just fine.
For some drivers, you may have to install the Windows NT/2K versions (i.e. turn off driver Signature Verification) and you may have to go through the process of loading them as part of the installation as it may
Re: (Score:3)
I believe Microsoft is aware that the device war is lost, they're just milking it while it lasts. But that doesn't mean they stopped innovating; for instance, 5 years ago their cloud offering was a half-baked web Office and a retarded ASP.Net hosting service; now you can run Kafka queues, execute Hadoop jobs or get real-time speech-to-text services.
Meanwhile Apple innovation is forcing their customers to buy bluetooth headphones and adding emojis in the chat app.
Timberland Homme Pas Chers (Score:1)
So? (Score:2)
>"Gartner predicts Apple will ship more iOS and macOS devices in 2017 than Windows-powered devices"
So? That includes phones so it is not much of a metric.
You want to mop the floor and talk about "devices"? Then count how many devices ship with any form of Linux.... that would DWARF both Apple and MS. Android phones, Chromebooks, DVR's, cars, watches, TV's, tablets, routers, appliances, servers, etc, etc. When you look at that, Apple and MS are both just drops in an ocean.
Easy since MS doesn't really make devices! (Score:2)
Shouldn't this have always been the case? MS makes software and sells services, their focus isn't really on devices, they let third parties do that
Fuck them. (Score:2)
I know I'm not buying any.
I don't want a thinner MacBook. I want one I can upgrade.
I don't want a dongle laden iPhone. I want a mother fucking headphone jack.
Honestly, the new MacBooks are shit. I buy used MacBooks from 2012 and upgrade the components and they are fine.
Apple is fucking over their customers.
And I'm an iOS developer.
Finally??? (Score:2)
What the? Apple is traditionally a hardware company and Microsoft traditionally a software company, even at its lowest sales in the 90s Apple always sold more than Microsoft, beating zero is really easy.