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APPLE’S REASON WHY PC OUTLOOK IN HOME IS BAD
Apple Computer, Inc. says the outlook for PCs in the home
is not good. The Cupertino, Calif. company believes the PC will never
become as prevalent as the television in the home. It basis this conclusion
on its market research. The research found that roughly half of U.S.
households had no intentions of buying a PC for their home. Worldwide,
Apple found that two-thirds of all households were not planning a PC
purchase.
Apple says three reasons were cited for not wanting to buy a PC. One
reason cited was that PCs are still too difficult to use. Household
members interviewed said the task of acquiring operating systems, graphical
user interfaces, file systems, menus, system configuration, and other
computer knowledge is too formidable a task.
A second reason cited was that households could not see the relevance
of a PC. Apple suggests that the perception reflects naiveté
or a lack of knowledge about the breadth of available content for computers.
A factor contributing to this reluctance to buy is that only one person
can use a PC at a time. By contrast, many people can enjoy simultaneously
other consumer electronic products, such as televisions, radios, stereos,
and VCRs.
A third reason cited was that PCs are too expensive. In the U.S., more
than 60% of households have a combined gross income of less than $40,000
per year. While over 95% of these homes have one or more televisions,
by 1997, the number of homes in this category with a PC will still be
well below 10%.
Coupled with the perceived difficulty and perceived irrelevance, it
is unlikely that lower priced PCs will be sufficiently motivating to
dramatically grow the existing PC market in the home.
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