Lemons, and Apples

Sometimes I wish Apple would go back to being the 4% Market Share company it used to be. Back when the company had higher QC and pride them self in bringing you a solid product. It seems like all this popularity has come back to hurt Apple. Just check out this article in TechCrunch and you will understand what I am talking about. When you ask people what they think about Apple products you usually hear the same descriptions, elegance, easy to use, reliable, quality. Apple has always pride them selves in delivery just that, a product that is elegant, easy to use, and reliable. You pay more but you get quality. 

This is one of the main things that Apple has going for it. Any hardcore Mac user can tell you amazing storys about how good Apple products are. They can truly stand the test of time. It is not unusual to find 5 and 6 year old Apple hardware still running strong. Browse E-Bay and you will see a huge array of old Apple hardware still circulating the for sale market. But this is not the case anymore. As of late , it seems Apple has been dropping the ball when it comes to quality. First it was the Nvidia fiasco, then the iPhone 3g cracked case, and now the iMac screen problems.

To be Honest this is to be expected, Apple need to be careful of what they wish for. The bigger you get the harder it is to deliver the same level of quality. Apple has seen a huge increase in market share in the past 3 years. This is mainly due to the iPhone and iPod popularity and also complement of Windows Vista. People get a taste of the "Apple Experience" and are willing to become switchers. This has aid in the increase of Mac users. The numbers speak for them self, Mac market share has grown exponentially. As Apple increases production we see an increase in failures and a drop in quality. 

On my last trip to the Apple store I noticed that there was a huge waiting list of people waiting for repairs. While waiting for my iMac to be worked on I listen to customers explain their problems to the Geniuses. Everything from bad hard drives to faulty displays, stuck CD drives and even motherboard failures. To make things worst the Geniuses where quoting 3 to 5 days turnaround on the repairs. My iMac was at the Apple store for a total of 4 days and this was just for a hard drive replacement!!!! So what can Apple do to alleviate this growing problem? Clearly something needs to be done, either at the QC stage of production or at the stores, Apple need to step up their game and start offering better support. After all anybody that pays a premium price "Apple Tax" for a computer + warranty should not have to put up with long wait times and turnarounds or faulty hardware.

Posted via email from PCoraJr