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But Doing Great Overseas (10/24/00)
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Apple may be currently riding some rough waves here in the States, but it looks like the Mac is on an upswing over in Germany. Yes, while we've racked up more than our fair share of viewer complaints bemoaning the awful state of the Mac market in Deutschland, evidently the karma wheel is starting to turn, because Apple Germany just reported its best year ever. (Our guess is that it's all thanks to that fake "We Love You" ad placed by Springer & Jacoby back in May. Just imagine how much better Apple would have done had they let the ad continue!)
According to MacWEEK, Apple Germany enjoyed a 62% increase in revenue last year-- and a 30% increase in the Mac customer base. Granted, Apple's share of the market is still even smaller in Germany than it is here at home, but Apple Germany's current 2.4% overall market share is undeniably less dismal than the 1.5% it had just two years ago. The progress the company's made in courting consumers is particularly encouraging: while Apple captured a mere 0.8% of the German consumer market in fiscal 1998, that number has more than quadrupled to 3.4% today.
Strangely enough, MacWEEK reports that the Cube, which has been tough to move here in the States, isn't selling well in Germany, either. We'd have figured that if any broad generalizations bordering on offensive prejudice could be made about Cube appreciation by nationality, it'd be that the German market would love its clean, minimalist lines, quiet operation, and impressive spatial engineering. It just goes to show you that racial, cultural, and national generalizations can be as inaccurate as they are hurtful-- and that price concerns transcend all boundaries. In short, the Cube is expensive and people are cheap. Isn't it great how we're all the same on the inside?
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SceneLink (2633)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 10/24/00 episode: October 24, 2000: Apple debuts a new TV commercial touting the many benefits of a Mac.com email address. Meanwhile, Xtrem up and ships its overdue MacThrust processor accelerator, though the 1.2 GHz Mac is still "under development," and while Steve and friends struggle here in the States, Apple Germany has its best year ever...
Other scenes from that episode: 2631: "Don't Touch That Dial!" (10/24/00) Statistically speaking, given how much TV your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff watches on an average day (once estimated at 26 hours per person; we've been told that there are far more important uses for our breakthrough time-dilation device, but we find that highly unlikely), when Apple starts running a new commercial, we're usually among the first to see it... 2632: From Vapor To Thrust (10/24/00) It shipped! It shipped! Xtrem finally has an actual, honest-to-goodness product out the door, instead of just hype, vague hints about future greatness, and lots of pretty 3D renderings of a big microphone...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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