Six Ways Apple Can Destroy Microsoft

Yesterday, Global Equities Research revealed that approximately 80% of incoming students are buying new Macs in 2011. This leaves a paltry 20% of students who are snapping up Windows PCs, despite the wonderful gift Microsoft MSFT is giving away. After pondering this for a moment, I started to wonder: how could Apple AAPL continue to increase its lead over the Bill Gates enterprise? We already know what it takes to sell a Windows PC. But how can Apple sell enough Macs to beat Microsoft into the ground?

6. Unveil a New Color Having conquered the art of painting objects silver and black, Apple broke new ground this year when it figured out how to produce a white iPhone. It was a miraculous feat, to be certain. While auto manufacturers have been making white cars for generations, Apple was new to the color. Sure, the standard MacBooks are white. The old iMacs were too. Heck, up until recently, every Apple product was white. But clearly it must have been hard to dip the iPhone in white paint; otherwise the white edition would not have taken so long to arrive. In any case, Apple has proven time and time again that its colors can move mountains. Thus, one way for the company to increase its lead over Microsoft is to introduce a new coat of paint. It could be green, yellow, orange, blue, or… Ah, I've got it! Before releasing the iPhone 5, Apple should release an Off-White iPhone 4! 5. Launch a New iProduct It could be anything – an electronic toothbrush that streams music from your computer right into your mouth, a back massager that connects to the Internet to download new vibration settings, or a brand-new television set that pulls iTunes and the App Store into one package for a ridiculously high price. It doesn't really matter what this product is as long as it's iSomething.

4. Produce a Lot of Hype for a Very Small Announcement Remember the teaser for the “big” iTunes announcement last fall? The one that led us to believe something amazing was about to happen, only to turn around and reveal that the Beatles had now come to iTunes? Don't get me wrong: the Beatles are great. But since when is that an Earth-shattering announcement? The way Apple behaved, you would have thought the company had planned to reveal a new product or service – or at the very least an item we couldn't buy several decades ago. 3. Give Less Than Your Competitor Who needs a free Xbox 360, anyway? Consumers would much rather have a $100 gift card to download new songs from iTunes. Never mind the fact that the Xbox 360 is worth twice as much. Never mind the fact that Apple used to give away an iPod Touch with its back to school program. Consumers don't care how little they are given and Apple knows this – at the end of the day, they will still want a MacBook more than a Windows PC. 2. Air a New Commercial Hype the new MacBook Air. Promote the year-old iPod Touch. Reinforce the iPad revolution. Show off Final Cut Pro X. (Wait, scratch that last one. It isn't pretty.) Apple could hype any one of a million different things and turn ad dollars into gold. All it has to do is call up a TV station and say the words every network wants to hear: “Here's a ton of cash. Now air my ad!”

1. Do Nothing At All I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is for Apple, a company that could literally twiddle its thumbs and still find a way to make Microsoft look bad. Apple: you are free to sit by and do nothing. Consumers will clearly buy your products in spite of all the terrible things that you do. So rest easy, App Store creator. Enjoy the party while it lasts. Unfortunately for Microsoft, if Apple received the good news, that can only mean one thing for the Big M. While the Windows maker is still an important entity that should not be ignored, it has become a bumbling buffoon. The company is no longer capable of producing or delivering an acceptable level of quality. It has lost touch with reality, and it may never be able to overcome to ground it lost to Apple. Most embarrassingly, this happened with a somewhat lackadaisical Apple leading the charge. Can you imagine how brutally Microsoft would have been beaten if the Mac maker had done everything in its power to win? “Everything” meaning lower prices, better back to school sales, more innovation, and fewer product rehashes. Mind you, Apple's prices are ridiculously high. Its back to school sale is atrociously weak. Apple hasn't released a truly groundbreaking product since the iPhone arrived. And, on top of that, the company continues to rehash (I mean “refresh”) its products on an annual basis. All that and Apple has turned Microsoft into a wad of cookie dough. I don't know if I should commend Steve Jobs or condemn Bill Gates. Follow me @LouisBedigian