APPLE Worried About The Future Of Macs

APPLE COMPUTER has quietly voiced its concerns about the growing threat it faces from LINUX in the desktop market.

The Californian manufacturer's concerns emerged in its
FORM 10-K filing with the US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION late last week. The 10-K is an annual report on the company's business, and an effective disclaimer on factors that may affect the company's future performance.

In this case, APPLE concedes that the personal computer industry is highly competitive and is characterized by aggressive pricing practices and downward pressure on gross margins, amongst other elements.

"Over the past several years, price competition in the market for personal computers and related peripherals has been particularly intense as competitors who sell WINDOWS and LINUX based personal computers have aggressively cut prices and lowered their product margins for personal computing products,"
the company said.

APPLE concedes that its financial condition has been adversely affected by these pricing pressures, but goes on to continue that "MAC OS has a minority market share in the personal computer market, which is dominated by makers of computers utilizing other competing operating systems, including WINDOWS and LINUX."

Moreover, the company expressed concern that to the extent
its minority market share has caused software developers to question APPLE's prospects in the PC space, developers could be less inclined to develop software for APPLE products, and instead feel more inclined to devote their resources to developing software for the larger WINDOW market or growing LINUX market.

"There can be no assurance software developers will continue to develop software for MAC OS X, the company's operating system, on a timely basis or at all," the firm said.

Bill Smallfield, thanks for the post.