MacBook Air - At Home On An Airplane

Apple had a great quarter.  They surprised the analysts again, but this time it was more like a baffle than a surprise.  I had to tweet about this as I read the article which delivered the news…

“Mac Sales Up More Than Expected. Analysts Baffled, Say Logic has Been Defied” Hint To Analysts: Value Add  http://su.pr/4qOujb

But what was baffling me was why the analysts couldn’t seem to figure out these growth in sales numbers. Mac-OS based laptops are appearing in fast growing numbers on the laps of business travelers in airports around the world.   These same travelers probably are carrying iPhones and may have been using a windows based laptop in the past. They may have a windows desktop “PC” in the office or at home which they also use.

What should be clear to the Analysts (unless they aren’t traveling) is that Apple is taking market share from Microsoft in the mobile business computing marketplace for sure, and perhaps making notable in-roads onto the general business app user’s desktop as well.  A recent survey also showed that families/home users are buying more Apple PC’s and peripheral products and that they are higher income families. Add to that the fact that Apple gets more for it’s Mac-OS and Mac hardware than MSFT and the WinPC  hardware co’s get combined for comparable products.

Is it hard for these guys (the analysts) to see the source of such strong growth amidst a tech industry which is still suffering the worst of our current economic climate?  For starters, Apple’s integrated hardware and Mac/OS compete with dozens of hardware manufacturers running a MSFT Windows OS version, and users are simply willing to pay more for the value added experience.  Mac’s have long dominated the desktops of graphic design, publishing and engineering professionals, but the friendlier, more stable user experience is being picked up by the business travelers, writers, and workers just managing large amounts of media, as well as creating content and publishing it themselves.

There are many obvious signs that this analyst surprise involves some erosion of Windows PC laptops at least in the mobile professional segment.  But there is also a battle for young workers allegiance in a world where games are now played in cyberspace.  Microsoft is opening retail stores (similar to the Apple stores) and will be hawking X-Box and Handheld Devices in the very same vein that Apple is swarming gamers to geeks alike into their retail product showcase stores. So there are many clues as to where the revenue surprises from Apple are coming from. These guys seem to need a better source for their clues . They aren’t being much help to consumers and stockholders by saying these numbers defy logic.  I have seen it myself, and read about it constantly.   Air (and land) warriors, business travelers and media professionals across the board are showing up in airports and hotels with a laptop bearing a bitten off apple engraved logo on the back of their companion(s) laptop.