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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1157
Apple's US Focus Costing Customers in Overseas Markets
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
October 23rd 2002
Declines in non-US revenues are due to reduced global spending on PC products, not
Apple's 'US-centricity'.
The Australian IT says that Apple's US-centric approach is costing the company sales
in third countries.
THe article cites Sherlock search features, iPhoto picture albums, free Jaguar copies
for teachers and Apple Retail Stores as initiatives which are localized for the US and
unavailable to non-US customers.
The author, David Frith, cites figures detailing Apple's declining profitability and
total Mac sales since 2000. Dell, Frith says, is one of Apple's problems, but he
argues the real problem lies in Apple's relative neglect of the rest of the world.
Frith concludes by stating "Plainly, Mac fans in Australia, Japan and Europe have been
deserting the Apple ship in droves. When they and their needs are so obviously
ignored, who can blame them?"
Analysis: Unfortunately, David Frith's article is based upon faulty assumptions,
misleading data and, in some cases, in downright wrong.
First, he compares Apple's shipping volumes and profits in the fourth quarters of 2000
and 2001. While frequently cited by analysts, the year-on-year figures tell us nothing
at present, except that global markets are in recession. Deep recession. Even Dell,
while experiencing unit growth, is doing it largely at the expense of its Wintel
brand-name competitors,such as HP-Compaq and Gateway. Any real growth on the PC side
has been in the proportion of the market held by 'white box' PCs.
Second, Apple has clearly been making efforts to consolidate its Apple Europe
operations, and its worldwide market share in fact grew slightly this year, partly due
to the HP-Compaq merger. Despite the severe downturn in Japanese IT purchases, all
model lines except PowerBook remain very strong in Japan.
Apple Australia's Marketing chief only days ago noted a reorganization of AppleCentres
[in Australia, these are third-party resellers, but they conform to Apple's
requirements, by and large. Not as snazzy as Apple Retail Stores, but a nice place to
be].
Frith is correct in citing a decline in the overall percentage of Apple sales
accounted for by non-US sales, but it is unlikely these markets will recover until the
US economy shows a significant turnaround. Apple is clearly making sustained efforts
to break into the critical Chinese market.
But one doubts whether localizing features like iPhoto albums and Sherlock 3 will
really make people buy a Mac. In markets where broadband internet has limited
penetration, internet-based services which only add candy are likely to have little
impact.
It may well be that if Apple boycotts Boston, there may be a renewed focus on the
Tokyo and Paris Expos - major hardware announcements at these Expos will only increase
Apple's visibility in the key Japanese and European markets.
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