Problems And Pains: Apple’s Top 10 List Today.

What you won’t find on the list are the usual suspects. For example, Microsoft. While any company that holds a 90-percent or so market share could be considered a problem for a smaller competitor, Microsoft’s got so many problems that they’re not much of an issue for Apple these days.

Apple can’t make products fast enough, so Supply and Demand could be a problem, right? It’s not. Check the Apple Store online and you’ll see much shorter wait times for delivery of the new iPod shuffles and Mac mini computers. Other products are selling fast but Apple has the supply line running smoothly.

Tiger? It’s the next version of Mac OS X and by all accounts is a substantial improvement over Panther (in my opinion, the best Mac OS ever). Things are running so well in Tiger development that there’s rumors it’ll be released early. No problem there.

Apple’s hottest product of the past couple of years has been the iPod and iTunes Music Store. You might suspect a few iPod problems on the Top 10 List and you’d be right.

So, in reverse order, Problems and Pains: Apple’s Top 10 List.

Problem #10: TiVo, TV, and Movies
Apple has no presence in the emerging digital “living room.” There’s all the cable company set-top boxes. There’s TiVo. Even Microsoft and PC makers have “media PCs.”

No Apple. Just when it looked like TiVo’s stock price would make it an attractive buy-out (Apple could pay for TiVo with petty cash), TiVo signs a huge deal with Comcast.

Apple needs to bring expertise and product to the living room. Soon. An iMovie Store? A Sony deal? Buy TiVo? Something. But fix that problem.

Problem #9: LuxPro’s Super shuffle
iPod knockoffs will be a growing problem for Apple. If it’s not in the form of yet another Sony Walkman-iPod-Killer, it’s LuxPro’s clone of the iPod shuffle.

Sure, the Super shuffle will never make it to the US (trade dress and all the legal issues), but there’ll be more. Knockoffs muddy the water. Apple needs to deal with the clones quickly, reduce the publicity, move on.

Anyone else notice that there’s only a $50 spread between each model iPod from the $99 shuffle to the iPod photo?

Problem #8: Trade Secrets and Free Press
Apple is notoriously secretive about products and rightly so. As a journalist I want to be able to dig up as much information about Apple and products as possible.

ThinkSecret and other Mac web sites have been sued by Apple because the sites crossed the line and more than likely knowingly published a few of Apple’s trade secrets and enticed individuals to break NDAs (non-disclosure agreements).

Apple’s in the right here. But the legal action won’t end soon and will put a damper of a journalist’s right to free speech. The whole thing is a big PR problem that Apple needs to fix soon.

Problem #7: Real, Napster, and Music Subscriptions
Both Real and Napster are desperate and need to do something to crack the music market. In nothing flat (well, three years or so) Apple has taken the online music scene by storm and owns the market.

To gain an ounce of public recognition, Real CEO Rob Glaser and Napster CEO Chris Gorog have simply resorted to name-calling and insults instead of building a better mouse trap.

However, online music subscriptions are beginning to gain traction and could find more than a niche following. That opens up the world of WMA music players to hundreds of thousands of users.

Apple needs a subscription service before Napster and Real gain more ground. I predict an Apple music subscription service by the end of 2005.

Problem #6: The Beatles and Record Companies
Apple the computer company is being sued by Apple the record company because the latter is in the music business and believe the former should not be.

A court (or out of court settlement) will decide, though this one looks to be leaning toward Apple the computer company (they don’t “make” music).

The other side of the coin is record companies. Apple has gained considerable clout in the music industry. Record companies are losing control while Apple gains more control. Guess who doesn’t like that change?

Apple’s also rumored to be looking at the purchase of a growing startup company that could eliminate the record company as a middleman for recording artists. Or, if Apple doesn’t control that process and the technology, elimnate Apple as the middleman, by allowing artists to sell direct to the public.

Could Apple become a music distribution company and compete with the labels? Regardless, both the Beatles’ law suit and relationships with the recording labels represent a big set of problems for Apple.

Now, on to the remaining Top 5 of Apple’s Problems Today. Click Here for the next page. Sneak Preview: Chips, Stocks, Steve, and Disease.

The folks at Mac360 have a few domains for sale. If you've ever dreamed of setting up and running your own site about Apple, the Mac, iPods or the iPhone, this is a great way to get started. Click Here, iPhoneKillerTips, or ChatterMac for a more complete list, which also includes Mac360.com.