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Ever since 1981 people have been saying that Apple is doomed - while Apple has just grown and gotten better. Since the begining of the Mac it was "a toy" that would never succeed or get any sales - and here it is 13 years later, still leading the industry.
So here are some historical quotes - all predicting Apple's immediate failure - yet the Facts (see charts) tell a different reality than is read in the press.
Remember this is the same company that got a Buisiness week article entitled "The fall of an Icon" last year. Read the quotes and compare them to unit sales or dollar sales from the same time frame and the reports are almost funny - if it wasn't for the fact that these lazy reporters are harming the platform on which I base my career, and on which many people have come to depend.
Apples Sales in Billions
of Dollars/year
Apples Sales in
1,000,000's of Units/Year
"Apple is still a one-product company that keeps failing at corporate sales "- R. A. Shaffer, Personal Computing, May 1985
"In an effort to reverse its sliding earnings..." - Business Week, July 1, 1985
"Rumors of apple takeover refuse to go away..." - San Jose Mercury News, July 1, 1985
"According to industry analysts, Apple Computer's cost cutting measures�will not completely reverse its sagging fortunes" - Computerworld, June 24, 1985
"�Apple sans [Steve] Jobs will be just another company." - New York Times, September 22, 1985
"�plunging Apple sales" - PC Week, Feb 6, 1989
"Apple Computer Inc. � has lost some momentum. �. Analysts are expecting Apple's sales growth to slow even further�" - The Washington Post, July 19, 1989
"Apple customer defection to IBM and compatible products is growing� reason is the improving price competitiveness of IBM and compatible products." - Computerworld, Dec 18, 1989
"�unfocused marketing efforts, new-product delays and plunging profits. Existing product lines are clearly showing signs of advanced age..." Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1990
"[Apple's financial] results show the difficulty of increasing that share for proprietary firms versus the more open-system companies." - The Business Journal-San Jose, April 23, 1990
"[Apple] has increasingly found that it is trailing, not leading, the computer industry in innovation� the consensus is that Apple must act quickly." - The New York Times, August 10, 1990
"New Macs won't lift Apple's bottom line" - PC Week, October 15, 1990
"Apple Computer Inc. is launching a new family of low-cost Macintoshes to recover the market share it lost� Analysts doubt that Apple's machines or its marketing are up to the job." - ELECTRONIC BUSINESS, September 17, 1990
"�with its shrinking market share, Apple was beginning to lose the support of software companies, which want to develop new programs for computers with large sales" - The New York Times, October 12, 1990
"PC managers say it's too late for the Mac. Apple's market share in the US desktop market is � an estimated 10 percent in 1990." - PC Week, January 7, 1991
"Sales of [Macintosh computers] increased, but the price cuts obviously hurt profit figures" - PC Week, May 27, 1991
"The popularity of cheap Windows-based IBM-compatible systems even haspushed Apple Computer Inc. to deeply mark down its machines, long the pricest in the business." - The Washington Post, March 10, 1992
"�with the popularity of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows cutting into Apple's ease-of-use claims, Apple executives can no longer ignore PC pricing" - The Business Journal-San Jose, July 27, 1992
"Apple Computer is in crisis again�" - Los Angeles Times , June 20, 1993
"Today's announcement�raises fresh doubts about whether Apple's go-it-alone tradition can survive� " - The New York Times, July 7, 1993
"Apple, is desperately seeking a winner." - The New York Times, July 30, 1993
"�putting Apple back on course may be difficult�questions about the vitality of Apple as the computer maker heads into a six-month period that many in the industry say will determine whether it can recover." - The New York Times, October 1, 1993
"Apple's troubles exploded outward like a beautiful old farmhouse eaten away by termites. The hardware and Software vendor paid the price for having technological visions deeper and richer than its aging, overpriced product line." - The Business Journal-San Jose, January 3, 1994
"[Apple's market] share has been eroded by various makers of IBM-compatible machines" - Business Journal-Milwaukee, March 19, 1994
"A respected Apple analyst [said that Apple] could 'go down the tubes' or wind up 'a niche player' in the huge computer industry if it doesn't find a manufacturing partner within 60 days." - Boston Globe , August 3, 1994
"�Apple Computer Inc. reported earnings today that fell far short of Wall Street's expectations, even though they surged nearly fourfold. �The results came as rumors again circulated about the possibility of a partial or complete takeover of the company by Canon Inc� " - The New York Times, April 21, 1995
"Analysts remain doggedly pessimistic about Apple Computer Inc�All year, Apple has been a rumored takeover target. Suitors have included IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Oracle Corp., Sony Corp. and Motorola Inc." - Business Journal-San Jose, December 11, 1995
"Following the brouhaha about Sun's possible takeover of the company�confidence in [Apple Computer] plunged." - INVESTOR RELATIONS (UK) April, 1996
References:
- Roberts Page on Macs (where I
got the quotes of Macs being doomed) -
http://members.aol.com/rhowehmd/macintosh.html
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