Thursday, May 5, 2011
Apple OS Profits Larger than Microsoft OS Profits
Posted by Michael Knutson in "Apple Talk" @ 09:00 PM
"First the incredible news that Apple had surpassed Microsoft in overall profit. Now Horace Dedieu points out that Apple's software platforms now enables it to earn more than double the amount of profits Microsoft garners from Windows."
Another example of spinning statistics to come up with some startling factoids. Mixing together iOS and OS X sales numbers and comparing them (only) to sales of Windows OS is a bit odd, at least in my opinion. Is Windows Phone 7 even included here? iOS counts for about 75% of Apple's overall profit, so comparing only like vs. like gives a totally different number. Yes, Windows OS still outsells Mac OS - significantly. And, the author's statistics are a bit dodgy, 75% of the profit comes from iOS, and 20% comes from OS X. Where did the remaining 5% come from? I can only assume it's server OS profits. The author then tries to build a case for Microsoft getting into the "bundling" business to increase profits, making the software and selling the hardware, despite their hit-and-miss track record (Zune, for example). Do any of you want to see Microsoft head in this direction? I don't think that I do.