What's the key to Apple's success?

Apple's weathered the economic downturn like almost no other company, pulling in massive profits without having to resort to deep price cuts. But what's its secret?

Over the past few weeks I've been asking a group of Mac/Apple fans why they thought Apple was doing so well. Here are four possible reasons for Apple's success:

• Constantly improving, innovative product line Apple doesn't have a huge product line, but the company is constantly tweaking it. Most of the product updates are well thought out and offer the end user extra value. This is attractive to both new and existing customers.
• Advertising Apple has a massive ad budget and this allows it to spread the word to a huge audience. When this comes to Macs, this is allowing Apple to aggressively go after those disillusioned PC users. Those funny Mac vs. PC ads are serious business.
• Customer satisfaction Apple consistently scores very high in customer satisfaction surveys (the company usually tops the list). Happy customers not only re-buy, but tell others that they are happy, therefore generating further sales.
• Vista sucked Given how Vista was widely considered by many consumers to be a failure, this has handed users over to Apple on a plate. After all, for users who were sick of Vista, or just wanted to give the OS a wide berth, Apple is an obvious choice.

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Thoughts?