Apple: Apple is more about the iPhone and iPad these days and less concerning the Mac. And the core of its Mac lineup now is arguably the actual MacBook Air, which doesn't look or act like a traditional laptop.
The environment is getting smaller (11. 6 inches), lighter (2. 3 pounds)--and, matched along with OS X Lion, offers an iPad-like interface. The iPad, on the additional hand, will evolve into a more upscale platform, replete with superhigh-resolution displays and quad-core processors. In short, Apple is serious about accelerating its transition to some Post-PC world. It's not just a Steve Jobs catchphrase.
Dell: Dell is really a very different creature. It still markets a lot of low-end traditional laptops--just browse its Site. Though Brian Gladden, Dell's chief financial officer, said during the company's current earnings call that "we're... moving our product portfolio to higher value items while exiting lower margin products in retail business. " That's been stated before.
Whatever Dell does, however, consumers and businesses will continue to buy lots of its PCs. The problem is, Dell may face the same existential quandary as HP if income shrink too much. Apple is commanding healthy operating margins (around 30 percent), while Dell falls to the HP camp (usually around 7 percent).
So, who wins? That's up towards the consumer, of course. Dell shipped about 10. 6 million PCs worldwide within the second quarter. By traditional calculations, Apple shipped a fraction of that. But throw the iPad to the mix, and everything changes. DisplaySearch's figures for mobile shipments show that Apple company wins handily, at about 13. 5 million, in the second quarter.
Nevertheless, U. S. government accounts and Fortune 500 companies will need a traditional Wintel PC maker for that foreseeable future. So, Dell may benefit from HP's demise. Just think of all those nervous Fortune 500 accounts wedded to HP and its business laptops.
Therefore, one scenario is that Dell takes up HP's slack and Apple carves out more market tell the iPad. Maybe it's a win-win.