By Rahsian Parris
Apple Inc., the famous company responsible for the pioneering Ipod and Iphone, have reported a 46% increase in profits this quarter, not only rubbishing predictions by Wall Street that their sales may slump this quarter, but also proving to be one of the few global companies whose sales have not been affected by the current recession, but may have actually been assisted by more prudent consumers.
It has long been common knowledge that the Apple Ipod is the leading brand of mp3 player currently on the market, consistently out-selling its biggest rival, the Microsoft player, Zune, however the Microsoft PC has generally been the computer of choice due to the overwhelming popularity of its Windows operating system. which includes the Office package of, notably, Microsoft Excel, Word and Power Point, all of which are highly used by most workplaces. Over the last decade, the general consensus has been that, whilst innovative and aesthetically pleasing, Apple products, computers especially, were only for artistic consumers and that PCs were more user friendly and all together more affordable.
However, in 2006 Mac fought back with their Get A Mac advert campaign where notable celebrities, applicable to the region in which the advert was being shown, including comedians Mitchel and Webb (United Kingdom) and actors John Hodgman and Justin Long (United States), personified characteristics of a PC and a Mac (respectively), where they would argue which one was the better computer by comparing what they could do. Mac was represented as the cool, casual, charmer and PCs the stiff, suited, worker. One advert in particular named Accident shows the PC wheeling into the frame, wheelchair bound, with his leg in a cast and bandages. The Mac inquires about what happened to the PC and the PC goes on to explain that he fell off of his desk when someone tripped over his power cord when walking past. Mac goes on to explain that that kind of thing cannot happen with a Mac because of its patented Magnisafe cable found on current Apple laptops the Macbook and Macbook Pro, where the power cable is magnetically attached to the computer so when pulled on, it simply detaches itself from the device without pulling the device with it.
The Get A Mac adverts continue to be shown in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zeland and Japan and have been extremely popular, aiding in Mac computer sales globally as the hard hitting campaign suggests to consumers, particular Apple’s younger demographic, to go with the ‘cooler’ brand. This, along with Apple’s popular student package (over 3 milllion Macs were sold during the back-to-school season); one customer stated that “the first time I used a Mac was at work and they just made life so much easier. Then I got a Macbook Pro as a graduation present and now I take it every where I go”. As well as the introduction of the innovative gadget, the Iphone which was first released on selected mobile networks globally, but whose exclusivity license ends in November of this year; Apple’s new operating system Snow Leopard have all aided in the large profits Apple have seen this quarter and currently, the sales of the brand have no signs of declining.
y. However it shows no sign of stopping there, with the venues 
by Holliewould
by Aly Fraser, 22 October 09
