Here’s a bit of sweet timing. Just as the PC Era collapses and everyone moves to the cloud, what is Apple selling? Why, the MacBook Air, a light mobile device that seems perfect for the iCloud generation. Oh, yeah, it’s also a “quasi-tablet.” No wonder analysts predict Apple will make billions off the device.
J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz Thursday sharply increased his revenue estimate for the MacBook Air, telling investors he expects $3 billion annually from the laptop, up from the $2.2 billion projected in April. Indeed, MacBook Air shipments were up 412 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to a 10.5 percent sequential drop for other Mac devices and a 10.1 percent decrease for PCs. The analyst described such a spike as a “break-out” for the MacBook Air.
The slim SSD-based MacBook Air is also getting a boost from Apple’s iCloud initiative, according to Moskowitz. Just 3-4 percent of notebook PCs use SSD storage instead of conventional hard drives, according to the analyst firm. In a nod to the increasing popularity of tablets over traditional PCs, the J.P. Morgan Apple expert labeled the MacBook Air as a “quasi-tablet for productivity.” Along with its slim profile, the device has an integrated keyboard and a complete suite of applications.
Apple reportedly will introduce an update of the current MacBook Airs unveiled in October 2010. The updates may include a faster Sany Bridge processor as well as a $100 price drop, according to Moskowitz.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
32 responses to “As The PC Dies, “Quasi-Tablet” MacBook Air Becomes Multi-Billion Dollar Success”
When the time comes, a MacBook Air will be my desktop replacement.
Sany Bridge update sounds INsany.
I’d say it was a bit extreme to say that the (Windows or desktop) PC is dying. There may be less of them as time goes on, but I’m sure the numbers will stabilize at some point around 50%. I think there will be more smaller and power efficient desktops like the Mac Mini in people’s homes and in businesses.
When Google announced it’s cloud based Chrome OS, I think they jumped the gun without having a true ecosystem in place. Apple got the MacBook Air out, got all of the kinks out and perfected it. Now that iCloud is ready to go…the MacBook Air is going to CRUSH the PC Market. SSD Drive = no moving parts. If Hard Drive Failures. And/or if your system is lost or stolen, wipe it clean and restore from back-up on your time machine. Which means your back online within an hour…ohhh CLOUD how I love thee. yes my next purchase will be an 11″ MacBook Air.
Already considering a 13″ MBA as a replacement for my 13″ MBP when the new ones come out. My MBP has a Corsair 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM onboard so am worried about how powerful the MBA will be by comparison, but I am presuming it will be a LOT cooler as the MBP is too toasty on my lap.
Wow, what a sheeple article. If 90% market share is dying. Then apple is long dead. It doesnt take huge numbers to move the apple slide.  “Hallowed are the macs.” “Hallowed are the children of the macs.” “It is the will of the Jobs, that we should spread elitism to all those blessed by his creation.”
P.S. You should proof read more thoroughly.
WTF? 90% market share, of course. Then 89. Then 88. That’s what dyING means. I can be in perfect health, but dying. Stick a knife and I just bleed to death, doesn’t matter whether I’m a healthy person or not.
Apple has been growing, while the PC market has been declining CONSISTENTLY for the past 5 years. That’s dying.
I agree, except that Time Machine restores take MUCH longer than an hour. Trust me. I had to do it twice. Once to my dad’s MBP, and once to my own, after incorrectly installing Linux on it.
It can take an hour for the first percent. I have optic fibre connection, 54Mbps. Virgin Media in the UK. No bandwidth limit.
Don’t feed the troll bro.
I agree, except that Time Machine restores take MUCH longer than an hour. Trust me. I had to do it twice. Once to my dad’s MBP, and once to my own, after inappropriately installing Linux on it.
Fixed.
/s
The Air is, without a doubt a great on-the-go, super-portable all-day-workhorse awesome-sauce laptop, and adding the iCloud features of Lion will definitely cement the Air as an even better personal computing solution.Â
Add to it ThunderBolt peripheral support, updated processors and hopefully a better GPU that can handle heavier lifting, and it could definitely continue as one of the top portables on the market. Especially at $999 (US).
Paul, you couldn’t have but it better.Â
We all see the writing on the wall. PC’s are accelerating on the south-bound lane of the dodo bird highway.
I just got a job as a tech blogger, which is why I need to do this. To be able to write about Linux. They already had 2-3 dedicated Mac writers, so I had to be able to write about other things too.Â
And I’m not about to Boot Camp Windows. Virtualisation just for a few games, fine, but I cannot Boot Camp it. A whole partition just for Windows, unless there’s some awesome game you can’t get with virtualisation, is not a good idea.
Besides, I have a bit of a soft spot for Linux, because of one thing. Even though I find OS X superior, there is one crucial quality that Linux shares with OS X, that Windows doesn’t have: the people who make it care about the end product.Â
Of course! Forgive me, bro! I don’t know what came over me.