iPod a Year
Out of context: Reply #10
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microsoft has much stornger brand than apple.
the perception of the brand is different
apple has a core tendencies of followers where as microsoft is more a less every day computer.
the difference is more or less audience. microsoft has higher penetration in the market and brand it self. case in point, someone buys apple computer being enlightened by their ipod, only to discover that their new pretty apple is not compatible with other computers that their friends has. apple has gained penetration more in to computer matket via ipod and itunes but mjority of the world still runs on windos.
considering that microsoft has enough brand pentration, the perception of the brand is that it is a realiable software and trsuted brand. but obviously there are faults to be the market leader which is covering its all productional bases.
as everyone knows, mac is not a secure platform as microsoft. not to say that ms is the secure. but as there are more market penetration, there will be fauilts that are being revealed. this is slowly starting to happen with apple. from what i have noticed, since their introduction of cube, apple's quality in product has declined and also their customer support. logically they are not fully equiped to deal with mass market. at this point they are ready to produce products to increase their stock value and portolfio level than to great innovative products.
this is also confirmed by the loyal apple followers who feel that they are left out by apple and starting to lose thier affection toward them. But, the difference is that they have no place to turn to in terms of brand substitution. where as ms folks has more choices than other.
at the end, apple needs to understand their market and serve the existing market base rather than trying to gain further. if the product is good, than it will sell. in my opinion they have the worst customer relation management program. they are out for acquition rather than retention. this is reminecent of what ms has done over the years until in recent 4-5 years where they have realized that retention of customers were far more important than the acquisition.
apple better shape up on their production logistics and also their CRM methods or they will further lose what they have and become a single product producer.