Rob Enderle is a name in technology circles that most people have a strong reaction to. He’s an IT consultant for companies like Microsoft, Dell, Intel, GM, and Ford.
Enderle has recently been on a writing binge of anti-Apple stories.
Here’s one from TechNewsWorld:
Apple remains financially sound with massive reserves, but many of their products are out of line with these hard financial times, and while they likely do have a netbook coming, it will probably arrive too late to help 2008. On the other hand, Dell suddenly appears better positioned for the hard year ahead, with well-timed netbooks and the most aggressive customization program in the market.
Wait, his firm works for Dell. Seems like a conflict of interest, but maybe it was just a slip. Let’s keep reading.
A few days earlier, he wrote a piece titled “Is Obama’s Mac A National Security Risk – And Will He Be Allowed To Keep It?” for Dark Reading:
There is antivirus software for the Mac, and custom scripts can be created to scan and ensure his exception machine when it connects to the network. Card readers and biometric readers can be added as peripherals. It isn’t pretty, but it can be done. An equally secure RSA token solution also can be used on his machine (some parts of government do this today). The problem is the Absolute Software requirement and the TPM, neither of which can be retrofitted.
Of course, they could also call Apple and quietly suggest it put in and enable its notebooks with a TPM. I’ll bet even Steve Jobs will take a call from the U.S. CTO or president. (If it were my laptop I’d be tempted to make this call myself.)
First of all, I don’t think Obama will be launching nukes from his iMac. For email, surfing, and office work, it would be plenty safe, even without Enderle’s so-called “custom scripts.”
Also, who has ever read anything on Dark Reading before? I haven’t.
But this keeps getting better. In this piece, he writes:
Apple clearly won’t shoot for a sub $800 price point, because they need to maintain higher margins. But Apple could create a sub-$1000 product and it is actually expected to bring one out. Apple has no Microsoft dependency and thus don’t have that restriction. Since their deal with Intel does not include co-marketing dollars, which is where the penalty is currently applied, indicating they may be able to get a more favorable price than any of the traditional Windows OEMs.
The likely fear is that such a device would cannibalize MacBook Air sales and that may prevent Apple from bringing out a sub–13.3” product and, if true, they are stuck in the same place for similar reasons. The only difference is they did this to themselves.
Wait, what?
Also, check out the guy’s bio at the bottom of that page:
Rob Enderle is one of the last Inquiry Analysts. Inquiry Analysts are paid to stay up to date on current events and identify trends and either explain the trends or make suggestions, tactical and strategic, on how to best take advantage of them. Currently he provides his services to most of the major technology and media companies.
So, he can use Google Reader and Digg. Fancy shit right there.
One more. On IT Management, Enderle writes:
What if we ask, so far who is beating whom? That will remain to be seen as the economic conditions rapidly changing the PC market in powerful ways that won’t become evident for several months yet. Apple suddenly appears priced out of the market at the moment and Dell has moved aggressively on Netbooks, at least suggesting Dell may be better positioned, at least initially, for the market downturn.
Again, the guy’s firm works for Dell. This is PR via a technology blog. PR is fine, but don’t sell to me as an editorial. And don’t make Dell pay for it.
( Aside: In this piece, Enderle uses the term “the MacOS.” It hasn’t been referred to that since OS X launched in 2001. Maybe his problem is that he’s running System 7.5 on something, and is making his points based on that. One wonders.)
This whole “Apple products are too expensive” bit he preaches over and over simply isn’t true. Apple’s shiny new notebooks are doing just fine. The company’s quarterly results of course will say more, but I don’t think Apple execs are going to start off saying “We made a mistake. Everything is now $300 less. Also, we’re selling Windows cause the MacOS blows chunks.”
People buy Macs because they want Macs. People will save up for them if needed. A great example is college campuses. Students (as a general rule) don’t have a lot of money, but more and more MacBooks are showing up in classrooms and lecture halls because students realize there is more to value than just price.
The Macalope put it best:
OK, so, after numerous years in the black and beating estimates quarter after quarter, Rob wants us to think that Apple suddenly has no idea how to sell computers.
