Apple losing market share in desktop publishing

If you're an Apple follower, this sort of news gets filed under "the endof times": sales of Mac-based desktop publishing software--the one area that the Macintosh has truly dominated--were down 30% last year. Sales ofWindows-based desktop publishing software rose 14% as well. Making matters worse, all of the major publishing vendors are ramping up theirsupport for Windows.

"If [desktop publishing] people get the idea [at the Seybold convention,held this week in New York City,] that Apple can't possibly win, then they will change [to Windows]," says Peter Dyson, online editor, SeyboldPublications and Seminars. "The sharks are circling; they smell blood."

Apple first popularized desktop publishing a year after the Macintosh wasreleased when Aldus Corporation and Adobe created publishing software thattook advantage of the machine's laser printer. Ironically, Adobe will teamup with Compaq Computer and Intel Corporation this week to discuss thebenefits of desktop publishing on Intel-based Windows machines. Adobe saysthe company can continue making money on the Mac solely by servicing theexisting 25 million Macintosh owners with upgrades. Currently, Applediehards Adobe and Fractal Design make half their money on Windows salesand Windows sales are rising as Mac sales falls.

Another problem facing Apple is that the company has to not only convincedevelopers to stick with the platform, but also beg them to port software to their next-generation operating system, code-named Rhapsody. Apple hasn't announced a coherent migration strategy for developers yet, largely becausework on Rhapsody is still in its infant stages.

While Apple still holds a few technological advantages over Windows, thegap is closing quickly. The Macintosh features color-syncing technologythat will appear in the next version of Windows (code-named Memphis) andWindows NT 5.0. The Mac had always managed memory better than Windows, butWindows NT closed that gap as well. Also, publishing is quickly moving awayfrom paper-based production to the Web, where Apple has no inherent superiority. In fact, Apple is way behind Windows on the Web as Web-baseddevelopment tools are more widely available for Windows and are of higherquality since they are developed first on Windows.

Apple, of course, will attempt to fight back this week with figures andgraphs explaining that Mac-based solutions are better, cheaper, superior.In the end, the market will decide, but Apple has their work cut out forthem