Steve Ballmer was asked about Apple’s momentum in the desktop and notebook market during the McGraw-Hill  2009 Media Summit conference in New York. Ballmer tried to slam Apple saying that the “tide has really turned” after recent Apple market share gains: “Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction. Ballmer was referring to the February 16% drop in mac and ipod sales. “The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”

Ballmer of course conveniently forgets that PC sales have been hit as well. Ballmer has often referred to the difference in pricing between macs and PC’s as The Apple Tax. Ballmer’s latest comments however are not exactly complementing the masses when he says that people were paying $500 more an apple logo. Is it the apple logo or does hardware design, software and consumer experience have something to do with it? I’m just thinking out loud here.