Thanks to NBEHTM for drawing my attention and wrath to this article.

I would dismiss this if it came from somebody other than Gartner. If this came out of John C. Dvorak, someone inclined to incite rather than inform, this would be laughable. Gartner, however, is supposed to be a reputable research company. Well, was supposed to be, at least.

This Gartner report makes it clear that the authoring analyst has fallen victim to something common amongst people who lack vision - this analyst is trying to define success for Apple by making comparisons to Microsoft or Dell. The blog Daring Fireball makes the point very well that Apple’s business practices aren’t to be compared to its traditional tech industry competitors. Apple is fundamentally different from its traditional competitors because Apple truly strives to be better rather than ubiquitous - therefore, lower market share is of less consequence to Apple than it would be for Dell or HP.

And that’s exactly what the Gartner analyst didn’t get - Apple is a rare entity in the marketplace. Because Apple truly tries to do better, Apple can justify following a different process with regard to production, charging a (slight) premium for superior design and integration, eschewing the processes and trends of the masses.

While the rest of the industry will scratch and scrape to eek the very last fraction of a penny out of the production channel, cutting R&D and sacrificing the consumer experience, Apple will continue toward its vision of actually making an awesome product. Customers will respect Apple for it and Apple will be able to continue to serve its own ethic of producing products that Apple employees would love to use.

After all, when was the last time you heard anybody say that they loved Windows? Or thought that Bill Gates had a handle on what was really cool? Or lusted after the sleek designs of Dell desktops?

Gartner needs to review its hiring practices.