okay. this really isnt' another WINDOWS vs MAC thread. i did in fact mention on the first post PCs brigade as every other OS's (linux, windows etc) and MAC as just mac os. perhaps i failed to clarify, i mostly wanted to be a hardware focused comparison. but then operating systems do come in the picture.
just wondering why people buy non-apple hardware (dell, hp and the likes) instead of apple? is it price? what if apple slashed prices to compete with dell, hps? would people buy apples then? Would there be a significant rise in mac users worldwide? is it the operating system or is it the hardware? what is the reason why choose a particular system?
People buy non-Apple hardware for a large variety of reasons. One reason is, like zap said, because if you build your own computer, you get much more control over what components you put in it, giving you many more customization options while often being cheaper. Lots of people can't afford non-Apple hardware, so they don't have any other choice than to buy cheap Dell, HP, etc., computers for <$500 and so on. The biggest reason, IMO, is that people simply buy what they're used to. Most people are used to Windows (another, it usually comes down to OS whether you want it to or not) and so they buy a computer pre-loaded with Windows from a manufacturer with which they're familiar like Dell or HP. If you want to talk about Linux users...well, first of all, they make up an even smaller portion of the OS marketshare than Mac OS X, so their impact on hardware purchases is pretty minimal. I'd say most Linux users are pretty concerned about customization and freedom (which is part of why they love Linux--if it weren't for such things, they'd have little reason to dislike OS X) and so they are often people who build their own computers. Other Linux users usually install it on an Windows PC after getting tired of Windows...though some manufacturers are beginning to make BTO Linux-installed PC's.
Apple doesn't need to slash prices to compete with Dell and HP. The low-end computing market just isn't where they're competing. And besides, Apple is really more about OS X. It's a great operating system, and when you talk about Macs--hardware or not--it's always going to come back to OS X. Lots of people buy Macs these days wanting to try out OS X, but also knowing that with Bootcamp they can use Windows as well. If you pop into the "Windows on Mac" forum, you'll see there are many people that say "I thought I'd spend most of my time in Windows...but I love OS X and hardly ever use Windows anymore! How do I make my Windows partition smaller so it isn't taking up so much space?" In the end, it's really about OS X, which is kind of unintuitive, because Apple sells OS X so cheap that it barely makes any profit on its own operating system. But it doesn't need to. Because OS X is such an important part of a Mac, and because it can only be run on a Mac, Apple uses OS X to sell its hardware, which is where it really makes its profits. OS X is what sells Macs. We're just lucky that they happen to be great hardware, too.
Apple's business model in general is just like this: use software to sell the hardware. It's the same with iTunes for the iPod and the App store for the iPhone. Apple doesn't make any money off iTunes or its store, but offers it as a great service for those who buy iPods, which is where the money comes from. Apple won't make money off the App store for the iPhone, but it'll make a killing on the iPhone. (Despite all the naysayers about the 30%/70% split, this kind of thing is pretty normal, and Apple's cut will go to maintaining the app store; it'll be a tiny fraction compared to the money it makes from the iPhone.)
All in all, I think asking why people do or do not buy Apple hardware compared with other companies like Dell or HP is pretty silly if you don't start talking about software. That's really what's important when it comes to Apple. The hardware-software integration is at the very core of Apple's business model and it's what's made them so successful. When Apple was failing as a company in the 90s and brought Steve Jobs back, many inside the company wanted to license the Mac OS to other computer makers like Windows, thinking that was the only way to save the business. But it was a wise choice not to do this. Steve Jobs created Apple with the tight integration between software and hardware in mind, and that's the way it will always be (as long as Jobs is at the helm). It's what's best for the business, and in many ways, it's very often what's best for the end users. If you don't talk about software, then asking why anyone buys Apple's hardware over HP's is no different than asking why anyone buys Dell's computers over Sony's, or Sony's over Toshiba's.
