A taste of Apple

Hands up who bought into Apple in early 2003? I didn't think so. Nor did I. Apple's 1700% rise in less than 5 years is that sort of growth that investors dream about but rarely capture.

Is Apple still worth a look? Definitely, although it is not cheap. Apple just grew its revenue by 25% and Macintosh sales grew by 33%. Apple is on a 2008 PE of about 27.

The great thing about Apple compared to Microsoft is that they control the hardware and software of their products. While Microsoft are struggling to come up with compelling reasons for customers to upgrade to Windows Vista, Apple can make a new product desirable just by making the external design more attractive.

My only experience of Apple products is my iPod shuffle - the humblest product in Apple's lineup. However in terms of entertain per pound spent no product has given me more than my little iPod. Now that my music is in iTunes I am effectively locked in to using iPods as it would take a long and tedious effort to export my music library.

My opinion of the Shuffle is that it is a very well designed and produced product. If all Apple's products match it for quality than Apple should continue to gain market share.

The great thing about the Apple Mac is that it has less than 10% market share in the PC world so there is plenty of ground to be conquered. Microsoft and Dell should be very worried.

I like Apple but not at these prices. If the share price drops below $100 then I will look again.