Opinion: Apple to Great Recession: 'What, Me Worry?'

Computerworld - In case you hadn't noticed, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are locked in a TV ad food fight. Microsoft's been going on and on about the "Apple Tax," and Apple just this week fired back with a new round of ads slamming PCs in general and Microsoft in particular.

But ads don't make success. Sales do. And even in the current recession, Apple's recent second quarter results showed a rampant disregard for reality. They were good, very good -- the results, that is, not reality. And that wasn't supposed to happen; This recession was supposed to be another "final nail" -- the one we've been waiting for for over a decade -- in Apple's coffin. Surely with consumers cutting back, we'd see again the rise of Microsoft, as foretold by its "here's some money, buy a computer" TV ads.

Even though this quarter has historically not been a strong one for any computer manufacturer -- the holiday and corporate purchasing seasons are usually prime time -- Apple showed year-over-year growth in revenues, iPod sales and iPhone sales. Mac unit sales took a slight hit year-over-year, but were still the second-highest ever. And despite decent under-the-hood boosts to the line-up over the last year, there's been nothing to really break ground since the MacBook Air debuted in January 2008, though the recent Mac Pros are a promising tech platform.

But hasn't Apple heard there's a Great Recession going on, and people are socking away their spare nickels under mattresses across the country? Pundits and analysts were dusting off the old "beleaguered" appellation last seen in the early years of current CEO Steve Jobs' second coming to Cupertino.

Tight budgets, uneasy credit and layoffs, everywhere layoffs, were supposed to mean that "boutique" PC makers would be hit first and hardest. And that assumption was based on the "common knowledge" that Macs cost oh-so-much more than honest, hot-dog-without-yellow-mustard PCs. It's been disproved six ways to Sunday, yet you keep hearing analysts talk this up as they fight traffic in their BMWs. (BMW seems to be holding it's own, too, by the way.)

So, sorry CNet, Marketwatch and Rob Enderle. You are apparently going to have Apple to kick around some more. Enderle seems to be the Wrong-Way Corrigan of analysts. I think his most recent miss was the ex cathedra statement that iPod and iTunes will decline unless they act like Ruckus. And Ruckus is what now? Well, that's part of my point. (Feel free to track Enderle and other sages at Wrong Tomorrow.)

Compare and contrast Apple's financials to the latest earnings reports coming from Microsoft.