Can Apple Competitors Catch Up?

As one of the most successful companies in the world, Apple has had to deal with all kinds of tactics by its competitors. No matter how successful iPhone or iPad become, Apple competitors find a way to discount its success. That is very much the case with Dell. The company has failed to come up with an iPad killer, so now it is attacking Apple products:

Apple is great if you’ve got a lot of money and live on an island. It’s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex… An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case … you’ll be at $1500 or $1600; that’s double of what you’re paying. That’s not feasible,

said Dell’s Andy Lark. Unfortunately for Andy, that is not the case. An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse, and a case can cost you as low as $600. In fact, Apple has been so aggressive with its pricing strategy that its competitors have struggled to keep up.

Microsoft is another Apple competitor that has not had a whole lot of good things to say about the company. The company has not managed to kill the iPhone, and it is unlikely to ever come up with an iPad killer device. But according to a report by IDC, Windows Phone platform could overtake iOS by 2015:

Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences… The new alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and Windows Phone’s differentiated platform. We expect the first devices to launch in 2012. By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be number 2 operating system worldwide behind Android,

says IDC’s Ramon Llamas. Apple’s most dangerous competitors seem to be Google and Amazon at this point. Google Android still has ways to go to catch up to iOS but it is growing fast. Amazon is very ambitious and aggressive with its plans. It has already launched an app store, a cloud digital locker, and is planning to launch its own tablet. The more serious level of competition Apple gets, the better off we consumers will be.