# HP buys Compaq: What does it mean for Apple? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655 "2001-09-04T13:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/1 "2001-09-04T13:20:50Z")
My first guess is that it will be good for them. Besides the incompatibility of the MacOS with Wintel systems, Apple has had the obstacle of being only one manufacturer among many. Now that it will be one among fewer, it should theoretically be easier to draw the consumer’s attention. That’s just a WAG, of course. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/2 "2001-09-04T13:24:13Z")
- - - Nope. The consumer’s attention is drawn to whatever’s on the store shelf, and Mapples cost too much to be sold alongside IBM PC’s. That’s the reason most regular retail stores won’t bother to sell Macs. - MC ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/3 "2001-09-04T13:39:07Z")
The price difference is not nearly as great as it used to be, if indeed it still exists at all. Cite? But assuming you’re right, there, too, should be good news for Apple. Less competition on the Wintel side means more expensive Wintel computers. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/4 "2001-09-04T15:35:31Z")
There are still tons of competition. I’d say this is pretty neutral news for Apple. What, “I was a die hard PC guy, but after this merger I see that Apple really is a better machine, cheaper, has tons of pirated software, and the games are simply much better than PC stuf.” IMHO, preaching to the converted. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/5 "2001-09-04T16:11:02Z")
No real difference. The deal is that PCs are just commodities now. So the fact that there’s one less model on the shelf means very little. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/6 "2001-09-04T16:13:51Z")
**Finagle** : > [@](#): > > No real difference. The deal is that PCs are just **commodities** now. So the fact that there’s one less model on the shelf means very little. I keep hearing this. What does it mean to say that PCs are now “commodities?” Haven’t they always been commodities? ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/7 "2001-09-04T16:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > The price difference is not nearly as great as it used to be, if indeed it still exists at all. Cite? - Fiver - - - I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but _desktop_ Macs aren’t cheap. It’s not hard to find a new IBM-PC with monitor included for under $500. Can you get me a new Mac w/monitor at that price? How about $1000? There’s lots of PC’s for less than that. Yea, yea, Macs have all this and all that—I know, I know, but that doesn’t matter. Regular retail stores sell mostly lower-priced models to people relatively new to, or undemanding of, their computers- and they don’t want to pay for lots of extra capability they’ll never need. They shop _initially_ primarily by price, which is why computers tend to be arranged as such, and there’s usually lots of PC’s that cost less than the cheapest Mac. - It is true that with laptops the price differences are not so great, but even then the problem Macs run into is the typical retail-store software department: huge numbers of titles for Windows and few for Macs. - MC ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/8 "2001-09-04T18:43:04Z")
The merger will barely register as a blip on anyone’s radar, except maybe Wall Street investors. It has no effect on Apple’s market shares, and on the Windows-side of the fence, it’s just two generic makers of two generic beige boxes joining forces (though I wager it’s more like HP trying to smother out Compaq, but that’s a different topic from the OP). As for the idea of “Apples are vastly more expensive than Windows PCs”, that’s _so_ early 1990s. They are a bit more expensive, yes, but that’s no different than the price differences between Sony and Panasonic vs. Goldstar and Optimus (oooh, Radio Shack, now _there’s_ a brand for quality :rolleyes:). And retailers generally don’t like to sell Macs primarily because the salesfolks’ margins on them are less than on PCs – unless the customer _insists_ on a Mac, you can steer 'em to a generic Windows beige box and make more money. Fortunately, Apple’s new retail stores are giving them a **terrific** showcase for their stuff. Definitely a fun place to visit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/9 "2001-09-04T19:48:30Z")
I don’t think that HP’s acquisition of Compaq will change the consumer desktop market that much, except I’d be surprised to see a Compaq desktop on the market a year from now. If anything, this move is all about buying share in the business server segment, one area where Compaq has remained quite successful and HP has suffered over the last five years. If the deal goes through, then Dell will dominate in the business desktop market, HP in the business Wintel/Novell server market, with the home user market being predominantly split up by Dell, HP, and Apple, probably in that order. IBM and Sun will still hold some ground in the first two markets, with IBM dominating the business laptop segment. Apple could gain some ground off this, but for the average home user, I doubt it will mean much at all. ---
**Author:** ![Heath\_Doolin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Heath\_Doolin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heath_Doolin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/10 "2001-09-04T20:10:53Z")
Whats it mean for Apple? Plaid colored Imac…what else? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/11 "2001-09-04T20:13:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\ ***Finagle** : > > > [@](#): > > > > No real difference. The deal is that PCs are just **commodities** now. So the fact that there’s one less model on the shelf means very little. > > I keep hearing this. What does it mean to say that PCs are now “commodities?” Haven’t they always been commodities? \*\* What they mean by “commodities” is that there is little differentiation among PC’s of various manufacture and, therefore, little differentiation on price. Wheat is a “commodity” because there is very little differentiation between grains of wheat in a field (Dope farmers settle down, I know its a bit more complicated than that (heh-heh, I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to say “Dope farmers.” 😉 )). Real World Example (well, kinda made up): A P3 700MhZ machine with 128 megs of RAM, CD-ROM, 20gig HD, etc. from manufacturer A is not very different from a P3 700MhZ/128/CD/20gHD/etc. sold by manufacturer B. Same chip, same RAM, same HD, same computer. Now the components of Machine A might be better than the components of Machine B (which is why it is still a good idea to do some research), but for your average Best Buy computer shopper, one computer is as good as another and, as far as they are concerned, the only deciding factor is price. Did I hear somebody say that the Macs have more software and better games? LOL!!! :lol: … upon further reading, I see that **China Guy** was being sarcastic. nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hp-buys-compaq-what-does-it-mean-for-apple/79655/12 "2001-09-04T20:27:19Z")
net effect on my decision that my next PC will be purchased from [http://www.gamepc.com](http://www.gamepc.com) or [http://www.alienware.com](http://www.alienware.com): 0 \ ok…time for all AlienWare and GamePC owners to express their opinions. GamePC is my first choice because their machines are able to be customized more…at least that’s what I see from their respective websites. BTW…Athlon DDR all the way, baby! \