Is the Attention on Apple Inc. (AAPL) Justified?

HP’s picture not much brighter

HP isn’t quite the sinking ship that Dell is, but its printing division has garnered about 5% less last year than it did in 2011. In the personal computer department, the firm’s sales fell by 8% from the previous year. These declining trends aren’t a good sign for the company, and I became even more bearish about this stock after seeing its plans to cut 30,000 jobs. Furthermore, revenue declined by about 3% last year, or $777 million.

All evidence supports Apple

It appears investors are correct to focus so much attention on Apple. Where there is bad news for other computer hardware companies, there is good news for Apple. After all, other firms are suffering because of Apple’s complete dominance of market share.

However, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has proven its dominance capabilities with American competitors, it continues to battle with Samsung for smartphone market share. But even if it fails to garner revenue from sales of smartphones, the firm has several other areas from which it can profit. Analysts predict the company will increase revenue by nearly 9% this year, and another 9% next year. That’s much more than what can be said for Dell and HP, which analysts predict will lose money in the next two years. HP is anticipated to lose as much as 7.4% this year.

As Apple continues to take away market share, the computer hardware environment will become even more controlled by the giant. The company’s expertise is difficult to match, and as the firm continues to roll in profits, it will further broaden its market scope, and those that find themselves head to head with Apple, will lose.

The article Is the Attention on Apple Justified? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Phillip Woolgar.

Phillip Woolgar has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Phillip is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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