In last 2 years, we have seen Apple's rise from $200 Billion company to a $700 Billion company that peaked in Oct last year. Today it fell almost half since last October. Many big investors and people are losing faith in Apple. You call it
a market saturation or smart devices flooding or blame on bad economy but the
fact is, Apple devices aren't being sold as there were expected to be. Apple isn't making money overseas as it was expected too be. Matter of fact is, companies like Samsung are stepping up their games and building better devices than Apple. Companies like Intel and Microsoft have started challenging Apple on its turf, Ultrabooks and Tablets.
On the other hand, Microsoft is showing
signs of stability despite is doing not so well with its new Surface and
Windows 8 but doing pretty
well in enterprise software. Some Analysts are calling Microsoft
a treasure found of the road. Now big investors have started believing in
Microsoft. Earlier this week, Microsoft got a $2 Billion pumped in by a hedge
fund.
One area where I see Microsoft had differentiated itself
from Apple is the openness. If you look at Google and other companies, they are
more open than Apple. Apple is the only company that is the most secretive
among all. This may be hurting Apple. Even Microsoft is not more supporting
open platforms and open software.
Other area where I see problem with Apple is pricing. Today, if you compare Apple products with any other products, Apple is the costliest. People didn't have this choice couple of years earlier. Today, they have many choices. They can buy similar or cheaper tablets what Apple offers them for a much bigger price tag.
The last problem I see with Apple is overseas market penetration. North America market is saturated. Period. Most of households already have Apple products. Renewing Apple products are too costly and it doesn't make sense to upgrade a device just for little better screen or a new charger. Plus Apple accessories are so costly. So average consumer is staying away from them.
If Apple don't fix these three major issues, they are in big trouble.