Are Apple fanboys the most loyal?

I was reading an article in the San Francisco journal today and it actually made me wonder if Apple fans are really the most loyal in the industry. Could Apple ‘fanboys' be the most passionate on the planet?

Almost everyone reading this today will be aware of the heated ‘debates' between a core group of ATI and nVidia users … they seem the most active and aggressive on forums, making Intel and AMD fans seem somewhat passive by nature. Most technology sites have came under attack at one time or another by a core group of users when publishing a product review with either ATI or nVidia ‘winning' a frame rate or image quality battle.

Quite often blinded company loyalty to a fanboy means they can do no wrong … almost as if they are defending a family member. Company leaders are seen as figureheads of these companies and there has been no CEO in history as adored as Steve Jobs, who is often refered to as a visionary, a genius and a product guru without competition.

Apple have been in the press almost daily in the last month, primarily due to the iPhone 4 reception issues, which is being referred to by the press as ‘Antennagate'. Apple have admitted there have been problems with the signal strength readout but have decided against offering a product recall. Instead of KitGuru regurgitating it all again, read this, this and this for more information.

Most companies with a problem this large would be suffering from reduced sales and even a drop in consumer faith but Apple have been riding high with the public still buying their products, including the troubled iPhone 4.

“Let me be very clear on this,” Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said during the Cupertino company's earnings call with analysts. “We are selling every unit we can make.”

Even Hedge Fund investor David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital Inc said “While growth over the next few years will certainly be slower than it has been over the last few years, Apple does not appear to have fully penetrated its market opportunities.”

Many PC enthusiasts feel a little bitterness to Apple users, feeling their passionate and protective stance towards Apple is letting the company off the hook when major problems like iPhone ‘Anttenagate' occur.

KitGuru says: Apple has $24 billion cash in hand and analysts are expecting them to create $10 billion to $15 billion in cash each year from operations. What do you think? Do you love Apple or hate them?

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