I don’t know how you can say “other” is a tiny slice when it’s got the biggest numbers in your chart, the 2009 “other” is bigger than any two non-others COMBINED, that ain’t tiny. And those might CARRY laptops but don’t BUILD laptops, the laptops they’re selling come from HP and Dell and Apple.
I’ve dealt with redundant servers enough to know that it’s no guarantee of 100% up time. I’ve see both sets go down repeatedly, or you find out your configuration wasn’t done right so the redundant server keeps going but half your clients can’t get to it. Thin clients centralize your failure points, and that almost always works out against you.
Laptops with 17” monitors are big, lots of people won’t carry them around. Not to mention expensive. You can get a lot more computing power for the dollar with a desktop, which is why if the worker is not mobile the computer the company gives them will 100% of the time be a desktop. It’s cheaper and more effective.
But define “too” risk averse. We’ve both now pointed out multiple companies that waited to enter a market until it was proven that it was really a market and then entered it and excelled. That’s not “too risk averse” that’s “exactly the right amount of risk averse”. Which is my point, following can be a very smart business strategy.
Even if you take the numbers that say the smart phone market is basically a 3 way tie, 0% to 27% in 15 months is stellar and proves waiting can work.
No, I said mom & pop was a tiny slice of "other," which is mostly OEMs. There aren't only seven OEMs in the world. Aside from the majors not on that list like Sony, Panasonic, MSI, Fujutsu and Samsung, there are many smaller ones that make laptops.
In any case, you have the numbers, desktop sales flat or negative for years, notebook sales double digit increases for years, and that's since notebooks became the majority of sales.
I’ve dealt with redundant servers enough to know that it’s no guarantee of 100% up time.
That's why mainframe makers don't claim 100%. They deliver (not claim, deliver) five nines. I've seen the SLAs on desktop/server setups, and they rarely even expect two nines. Desktops kill you piecemeal. You don't often have one big outage, but the constant revolving outages add up rather quickly, and that's on top of server outages.
Laptops with 17” monitors are big, lots of people won’t carry them around.
It's not just about carrying around. A lot of laptops never leave the house. They're popular because they're small, compact, easy to move from room to room, and don't need an UPS in case the power goes out. In any case, the screen size is fine for most people, as is 15".
which is why if the worker is not mobile the computer the company gives them will 100% of the time be a desktop
Nope. And most of the non-mobile ones are better served by thin clients.
both now pointed out multiple companies that waited to enter a market until it was proven that it was really a market and then entered it and excelled.
It's the "excelled" part that is a problem for Microsoft. They're not excelling when they do enter as Apple does, they're barely offering the equivalent of what's already out there. Microsoft and HP unveiled what they thought would be the future of touch tablets in Jan 2010, months before the iPad. They killed it after the iPad was unveiled. That's not excelling. That's total failure.
Even if you take the numbers that say the smart phone market is basically a 3 way tie, 0% to 27% in 15 months is stellar and proves waiting can work.
It depends on how you go, US or worldwide. Worldwide, close for first place are Android and Symbian (note, that includes Android forks that aren't actually Android). Fighting for third place are Apple and RIM. Windows Mobile is under 3%, and Windows Phone 7 isn't even on the map yet.
Android's growth is impressive, and was expected. After the iPhone, people who weren't on AT&T (or Apple's single carrier in a country), couldn't afford an iPhone, or who just didn't like Apple, were desperate for anything like it. Along came Android, available from most established manufacturers on all networks from low- to high-priced. Of course it was going to sell well. You can even get Android phones free with a contract, I'm sure that helps the numbers.