Steve Jobs resignation has little effect on Apple product demand - report
A survey conducted by ChangeWave during the week of Sept. 6-12 showed that only 4 percent of 2,297 consumers are âLess Likelyâ to buy Apple products following Jobsâ resignation, while 89 percent of respondents indicated that the change in leadership will have âNo Effectâ on whether they purchase products from the company.
The research firm has conducted similar surveys since Steve Jobsâ first leave of absence. In June 2008, 18 percent of respondents said they would be âLess Likelyâ to buy Apple products if Jobs stepped down. That figure has dropped steadily since then, with the current response rate of 4 percent reaching an all-time low since the survey started three years ago.
Before tendering his resignation in August, Jobs took three leaves of absence on medical grounds. Each time Tim Cook, then COO of the company, assumed day-to-day operations.
The firm went on to suggest that Jobsâ previous absences have had âan âinoculatingâ effect that over time has allayed consumer concerns on whether the company could operate at the same level without Steve Jobs at the helm.â
A second ChangeWave survey focusing on tablet demand in the business market surveyed 1,618 corporate IT buyers from Aug. 10 to 29. The study showed that the iPad âremains the overwhelming choice for planned tablet purchasers.â
80 percent of companies that plan on buying a tablet next quarter said they will go with the iPad. Apple's share remained unchanged since the previous survey conducted in May. Other tablet makers that companies shower interest in were Samsung, Dell, Motorola and RIM. Interestingly enough, 10 percent of respondents had selected Hewlett-Packard as their companies' next tablet purchase, but the device has since been discontinued.
Last October, Jobs compared business demand for the iPad to holding a tiger by the tail. "We haven't pushed it (the iPad) real hard in business, and it's being grabbed out of our hands," he said.
For the most recent quarter, which ended in June, Apple reported 9.25 million iPad sales, posting 183 percent growth as compared to the same period in the previous year. The company also noted that 47 percent of Global 500 companies and 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying the touchscreen tablet.
According to one recent report, Apple manufacturing partner Hon Hai increased iPad 2 shipment forecasts for the third quarter from 14 million to 20 million. Late last week, investment bank J.P. Morgan raised its estimates for total tablet shipments in 2011 to 51.9 million units, with 70.9 percent of the devices expected to be iPads.
28 Comments
So much for the "fairy dust" theory of Apple's success.
Apple will likely stay great for several years at least. Steve's still involved, and should that change I'm sure he and Apple have years of plans and new ideas formulated. I don't expect to see a drop in awesomeness for at least 3-4 years. I'm sure there's several notepads of genius sitting around up there waiting to be realized. Maybe we'll see less stubbornness in some areas first.
Why would demand change for products he's already had a hand in designing? Wait a year or so, and see if demand holds once Apple begins rolling out new devices, software, and services that he didn't directly oversee, and judge the value of his influence.
Personally, I think it's going to be the Next years all over again.
So much for the "fairy dust" theory of Apple's success.
Well, there's always the "sheeple theory"
Apple will likely stay great for several years at least. Steve's still involved, and should that change I'm sure he and Apple have years of plans and new ideas formulated. I don't expect to see a drop in awesomeness for at least 3-4 years. I'm sure there's several notepads of genius sitting around up there waiting to be realized. Maybe we'll see less stubbornness in some areas first.
The last time a company was this dominant was the two and a half decades MS enjoyed. I see no reason Apple shouldn't be top of the heap for at least ten years or more.