Apple Could Suffer PC's Revenge

Others contributed to the PC slide. Microsoft (MSFT Quote) unwittingly threw PC upgrade sales into slow gear with the introduction of Windows Vista. The new operating system was not the success it was hoped to be. Potential customers balked at the system resources required to run the massive operating system. PC users grew leery that the investment would pay off.

Amid the software troubles came the collapse of Dell's once-invincible direct sales and nimble build-to-order business model. Even with the return of its iconic founder Michael Dell in early 2007, the company's strategy to focus more on retail and outsource manufacturing hasn't pulled Dell out of its tailspin. The strategy took a new turn Wednesday when Dell shuffled top management and made plans to reorganize around four separate consumer groups.

Meanwhile, Apple introduced sleek machines that started fast and ran what fans called easy-to-use programs. Apple also beefed up its laptop offerings at a time when consumers where steering away from desktops.

Apple's success to some degree threatens to rouse the slouching PC giants.

Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner recently downgraded Apple on concerns that the company has not provided a succession plan in the event that Steve Jobs leaves. To Reiner, the industry fueled by Windows and Intel machines is a looming threat.

"Apple's existence (not just success) depends on staying several steps ahead of a massive Wintel," Reiner wrote in his research note. "If Wintel catches up, Apple could be trampled."