Haven’t ignored it. I reinforced it as it seemed to me that you have downplayed it. First you start with a superior tone, like HA, only to make a slight concession afterwards for bootcamp.
The transition to x86 and bootcamp’s first release were big deals. Read an article on Zdnet(an older one) on how many execs, that the respective author has seen, are using macs(MBAs mostly) and running Windows on them.
Yes Apple gives a toss. They give a toss to be Windows compatible. They would never have passed 1 million macs a year without Windows, and more importantly, Office compatibility. On the same note, MS also gets more money on average from a retail Windows license that a mac user may purchase than from another user that bought a 650$ Dell. Oh the irony.
High margin mobile devices are their current bread and butter and more valuable than their mac division. That is true. But as long as they intend to keep pumping macs they will always give a toss about Windows.
Asus, Acer, Lenovo, HP and Dell are not the PC industry, they are the top 5 PC vendors.
You forgot to add the “white space” section of the industry comprised of brand-less custom PCs sold by various computer shops worldwide as well the enthusiast market which can’t be exactly small and neither cheap(maybe the top end of Steam’s users).
You also critically forgot to account for MS as all those PC vendors have an additional cost, the Windows license, that is MS’ profit. Windows is part of the PC industry(obviously) and the Windows’ division’s profits must be corroborated with the hardware industry’s profits.
Finally one must account for companies such as Corsair or EVGA that make critical components for the PC industry(memory modules, cases, motherboards) but are not OEM’s themselves. Maybe those should be lumped in the “white space” that I talked about above – as in completely custom builds, no PC brands present whatsoever.
Point is, the PC industry is more fragmented and much larger than the top5 OEM’s. I think you rushed to the conclusions without thinking that chart through very well.
Anyway, Apple’s mac division’s profits are still impressive without you exaggerating and painting a narrow image of the industry. By itself it’s the single most profitable x86 OEM. Switching to Intel and becoming essentially a PC retailer was the right decision for Apple. Their cultivated OSX niche and monopoly on its distribution helps them maintain high margins.
