NEW YORK, Oct 27 — There was much fanfare this week about Apple’s new consumer desktops and tablets, but the company hasn’t updated or launched a new professional desktop for two years.

Apple’s Tim Cook may have been quick to make fun of other computer manufacturers when he highlighted the iPad’s performance in comparison to PC sales — noting that in one quarter alone, Apple had shipped more tablets than HP, Dell, Lenovo or Acer had shipped laptops.

However, what he didn’t mention was Apple’s own share of the PC market. Many analysts had been predicting that because the company had waited until October to release new models that its PC sales for the year could have fallen by as much as 21 per cent. In particular, A KGI Securities analyst quoted on the AppleInsider blog believed that total desktop sales would only hit 3.8 million for the whole year.

Therefore it was a surprise when the company’s fourth quarter results, published on Thursday, revealed that Apple had actually managed to sell 4.6 million desktops over the last 12 months (even though desktop sales for the quarter dipped below the one million mark for the first time in 2012). What came as less of a surprise is that its notebooks continue to outsell its desktops by a factor of three-to-one despite their high price tag, selling 3.95 million units just in the fourth quarter. The reason the figures are unsurprising are because Apple continuously reinvigorates and evolves its MacBook Pro line.

Likewise it’s no shock to learn Apple also sold 14 million iPads in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the fiscal year to 58.3 million, while iPhone sales hit 26.9 million for the quarter and a staggering 125 million for the year. Like its notebooks, Apple constantly improves the design and features of its tablets (four generations plus a mini tablet in 2½ years) and smartphones (five generations in five years). But, despite the unveiling of a new iMac on October 23, the same cannot be said of its desktop computers. Indeed there’s a growing suspicion that since the company’s newfound iPad- and iPhone-driven success it is starting to lose touch with its core audience.

As ‏@DaveLaFontaine posted on Twitter immediately after the iPad Mini launch, “That’s it? No upgrade to the creaky #MacPro line? (sigh) Fine. Users actually hoping to create content gotta start moving to WinTel,” while ‏@CroweGarden asked “Is the #Apple #MacPro going to be upgraded.... ever?”

It’s been over two years since these serious desktop towers were last refreshed or updated and as other PCs start equalling or bettering performance for less money in a space Apple seems to have vacated, many former fans feel that they have been forgotten and are stuck with outdated computers and a host of applications that won’t run on anything other than OSX.

Like BMW and Porsche in the motoring world, Apple has always focused on profitability rather than sales and by producing premium products for premium customers built its reputation and eventually found long-term success. And while it is still the company’s ethos, the premium customer it is chasing is different and wants a phone and a tablet. — AFP-Relaxnews