1997: Faced with a similar question on what he would do if he were acting chief executive Steve Jobs, Dell chief executive Michael Dell said, "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."
2001: Q: What is the future of Apple Computer?
A: Silicon Graphics.
Q: That bad?
A: Maybe it's a little bit different. But if you look at proprietary computer companies, whether it's Digital [DEC] or Silicon Graphics or Apple, I think the fates are all relatively similar. We know how the movie ends. It's just a question of what happens in the middle. Apple has a very little customer base. If you look at the economics, it has been extremely hard for Apple to get a return on its R&D with a shrinking volume base. It's not to say that Apple's products aren't innovative or cool, but the economic factors here are so overwhelming, it's very hard for them to swim against that tide.
2005: It’s interesting the iPod has been out for three years and it’s only this past year it’s become a raging success. Well those things that become fads rage and then they drop off. When I was growing up there was a product made by Sony called the Sony Walkman – a rage, everyone had to have one. Well you don’t hear about the Walkman anymore. I believe that one product wonders come and go. You have to have sustainable business models, sustainable strategy…[The Mac mini] might take some here and there, but Apple’s market share in the global computer business has really shrunk pretty far. Where they’ve been making success recently is not in the computer business, but in the iPod music business. So this might be an interesting new product but I’m not really believing this is going to turn the industry upside down.
... Mehr braucht man wohl nicht zu sagen. Er ist nur sauer, dass nicht er den iPod erfunden hat, dass seine Firma nicht cool und hip ist, dass niemand Dell-Rechner kauft weil sie schön sind, dass ein Dell-Player in den Lagern liegen würde wie Blei und und dass alle sagen "Oh, what a smell... Must be Dell!".
