I have been thinking quite a bit lately about what possible road Apple could take not only to ensure its profitablity, but to secure its place in the personal computer market.

I really believe that a strategic partnership with AMD would provide this. Probably the most frequent comment I hear from Wintel users who are considering switching is that "why would I want to move to another platform that doesn't run my present software, and costs SO much to purchase in the first place?" They do have a point you know.

From a realistic standpoint, leaving the Mac Evangelist mantle off, the idea that they have to buy a new computer that at least will put them back $1099.00, plus all of the software they use must be purchased again, is a bit daunting to say the least. The question then is, "How do we position Apple to be a viable option for the non-mac elitist, or power user?"

The answer I think is this:

Apple redevelops thier market strategy by splitting the mac platform into two distinct lines. PowermacPro and PowermacHome(or something equally pithy).

The PowerMacPro line would encompass Powermacs running G5 utilizing the Power4 tech pioneered by IBM, DDR 400 ram, and enough internal storage for at least .5 terrabytes of HD, and AGP 8X probably the GeForce 4 ti, or the new ATI Radeon card. Round it off with support for 2 gigs of ram and a superdrive that can write to higher capacity media and that would pretty much do it. This line would live in the $1599.00+ price point and appeal to users who need a ton of horse power and don't mind the price you pay for it.

Then you would have the PowermacHome, running a hybrid AMD Athlon PPC 1.4ghz+, PC133 ram, one gigs worth should do it I think, ATA 100 HD 2 bays and the present superdrive. Throw in 8X AGP running the GeForce 4MX or the Radeon 8500. Make no real distinction in case design, and ship the units with the same monitor tech, with upgrades available of course. Start off the Home line in the $799.00 price point, and Apple would have offerings in both the consumer and pro sectors. If this happened, with aggressive marketing Apple could triple thier marketshare within one year, maybe two on the outside. And for fun, they could run promotions allowing switchers to send in their Pc software for a rebate towards the purchase of Mac counterparts from the Apple Store.

I think that about does it.

related - apple.com :: AMD.com :: ATI Radeon :: NVIDIA :: IBM