[opendtv] News: Apple's Mac moves in on broadcast industry
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:59:08 -0500
http://www.macworld.co.uk/procreative/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=20306
Apple's Mac moves in on broadcast industry
Apple is no longer dismissed by broadcast facilities, says Autodesk
Karen Haslam
Thanks to the move to Intel, Apple is no longer dismissed by
broadcast facilities. Autodesk senior product marketing manager Rob
Hoffman has revealed that his company, the maker of 3D animation
software Maya, is seeing more and more interest from Mac using
professionals.
According to the figures, Apple's Mac business is indeed growing. The
Mac has enjoyed increasing popularity over the past year and figures
from IDC show that Apple's PC shipments in the US grew 30.9 per cent
to 1.06 million during the fourth quarter of 2007, with a 6.1 per
cent market share, behind Dell, HP and Acer. But these figures don't
necessarily reflect growth in the broadcast market.
Apple, however, has identified growth in the pro segment. Apple chief
operating officer Tim Cook told analysts: "The Macintosh business is
on fire. The pro segment itself, the part that we can measure the
best - around pro audio software and video - pro audio was up very
significantly year over year and the video business continued to
perform very well."
While at Macworld San Francisco, Macworld caught up with Autodesk's
Rob Hoffmann. Hoffmann spoke at length about the growth he has seen
in the video and broadcast markets.
"If you'd have gone to any broadcast facility four years ago and
asked them if they wanted a Mac they'd have looked at you like you
were mad because despite the elegant hardware and beautiful
solutions, the performance just wasn't there," he explained.
"But now that that argument is gone. With the move over to the Intel
side, the performance is on par with anything you can get anywhere
else. And the operating system is better than anything you can get
because it's based around Unix core. Facilities are now purchasing
Macs and as a result we are seeing our sales increasing with the
adoption rate of the Intel based hardware. Apple is selling a lot
more computers and it trickles down to us," he added.
Looking to the future, Hoffman said: "Adoption has moved from a very
design centric market to broadcast and it won't be long before you
see film and games companies and other non traditional markets,
utilising Mac hardware. It's not a matter of if, but when."
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