Apple delivered huge numbers again for the first quarter of 2011 thanks to strong sales from Macs and iPhones. The only major concern for the company was the weak sales of iPad, although this is attributed to Apple’s inability to manufacture more iPads and not due to the lack of demand.

Sales of the Apple iPad were much lower than what was predicted only 4.69 million from the 7 million projected. This resulted from the supply problems of the iPad 2 and the low demand for the original iPad leading to the launch of the new version. On the other hand, 18.65 million iPhones were shipped during the quarter, almost two times year-over-year. Macs accounted for 3.76 million, a 28% growth year-over-year.

The strong sales of the iPhone temporarily erased concerns that Apple is experiencing a similar accident in the 1990s. During that time, the Mac had been  the established leader in the industry but Microsoft eventually chewed up the lead and Apple almost went bust. The same scenario is happening right now with the iPhone grabbing a huge lead among the smartphones with Android starting to take over the lead.

However, it seems that Apple has learned from that mistake and there are several major differences between the 1990s and the present time. Two decades ago, the Macs were more costly than the PC so consumers and businesses preferred to cut cost than spend for the “premium” product.

Another difference is that Google Android is a more fragmented operating system compared to Microsoft Windows. Literally, iPhone is competing with the different varieties of the Android. Although it gives Google the advantage of developing a single operating system and target more people, the fragmentation can also be an issue.

Finally, the iOS, Apple’s platform extends beyond the iPhone, iPod, and iPad as well. The integration of the platform to all these devices in the computation of the market share contributes to Apple maintaining its market-share lead over Google Android.

So as of the moment Apple can heave a sigh of relief and forget about concerns that the incident of the 1990s will happen again. However, the company cannot rest on its laurels yet as there are also factors that can turn things completely around this time.

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