“Apple Computer’s UNIX-based Mac OS X operating system is making inroads in the business community, according to a report by market research firm Jupiter Research. The report tracks desktop and server operating systems in medium to large sized business,” Jim Dalrymple reports for Macworld.
“The report found that in businesses with 250 employees or more, 17 percent of the employees were running Mac OS X on their desktop computer at work. In Businesses that had 10,000 or more employees, 21 percent of employees used Mac OS X on their desktop work computer,”Dalrymple reports. “Mac OS X Server is also doing well with businesses. Nine percent of companies with 250 employees or more used Mac OS X Server, while 14 percent of companies with 10,000 employees or more used Apple’s Server software.
Dalrymple reports, “Due reporting techniques, comparisons to where Mac OS X was last year at this time were not available. However, Jupiter Research Senior Analyst and author of the report, Joe Wilcox, characterized the numbers as significant for Apple. ‘What we are seeing is Mac OS X taking share away from traditional UNIX installations,’ Wilcox told MacCentral. ‘In some cases, OS X is taking share away from Windows, as well.'”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple Mac sales soared in second quarter 2005; Apple now No.4 seller of U.S. personal computers – July 19, 2005
Piper Jaffray: Apple Computer primed for continued market share gains – July 19, 2005
Gartner: Apple grows shipments 31 percent in Q2 2005, moves from 5th to 4th in U.S. market share – July 18, 2005
IDC: Apple gains U.S. market share at double overall market rate, up to 4.5 percent for Q2 2005 – July 18, 2005
Apple smashes street with record revenue, earnings; shipped 6.155 million iPods – July 13, 2005
No
Freakin’
Way.
Jupiter’s smokin’ crack or the article’s reporting it wrong. Maybe 21% of COMPANIES had users on Macs, but no way in hell 1/5 of users are on Macs.
MDN – you should know better than to repeat this obviously wrong drivel. I’m surprised at you.
What I said somewhere else on this…
I just read this and thought the number must be bullshit, or they’ve been reported in a very misleading way. I was thinking if you took those numbers and just worked through the number of Macs sold that can actually run OS-X, then it would probably prove that these stats are impossible. You wouldn’t even need to remove all the home Mac users from the equation .
Unless, of course, there aren’t actually that many companies with over 250 employees. That’s maybe the data that’s missing that would help make sense of this. Even if that still meant low overall market share and low numbers sold, if this is correct about desktops on business desks, then it does become significant. To have over 15% of market share for large business desktops would really be worth shouting about. It makes not developing for dual (desktop) platforms nonsense due to market share a nonsense. Companies that make desktop software aren’t interested in how many servers and cash registers and ATMs they can’t sell their software to, after all.
As it stands though, without making it clear, it just sounds like nonsense. I’d love it to be true, but I can’t see it.
Well, there certainly aren’t a whole lot of companies with over 250 employees. That easily eliminates 90+% of the businesses in the US when you’re talking about that many people…
It’s true. I just counted the pins on my wall map.
Unfortunately, there is NO WAY this is true.
Too bad…
What utter bullcrap. I love how you macidiots gobble this all up.
numbers, facts and truth are not directly related
you can always spot fear by the anger of the posts.
the question should be how many companies where sampled and what is the margin of error. the other question is what criteria qualified/disqualified the company to participate in the survey. you can’t give out number w/out telling us what the sample group is.
Yeah right. We gobble this up. MDN has an understated headline and no take stating how fantastic this is – probably because they have doubts. And most of the posters think it’s nonsense.
Mac users are not gobbling this up. Macidiots might be, I guess, but they’re idiots despite the platform rather than because of it.
Practically every post so far has said that the numbers don’t add up and can’t be correct, yet “noMac” spouts that we are “gobbling” it up. What I see are plenty of people who can read statistics and understand when when the statistics don’t mesh with reality. Here’s to you my Mac friends.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Support the argument when it makes sense, debunk it when it doesn’t.
NoMacForYou is a bored troll with too much tmie on his hands. He trolls for flame wars because he’s wanked so many times today, he’s too sore to go it again.
Truly pathetic.
10 out of nine people believe in stats. As already been said, these numbers smell royal fish.
Most of you are reading this wrong. It doesn’t say small businesses which would be less than 50. Its businesses with 250 people or over. Large companies like IBM, and yes, people at IBM use Apple computers, especially powerbooks. So this does make it a very small amount of companies that are over this 250 minimum. So these stats could be true.
Only one way: ask Joe Wilcox how Jupiter Research collected this data.
Unless he had totally wrong and the % is increase of adoption in business, that is add a “+” in front of the numbers.
or it is as for the Server. Those are % of companies having employees with Mac. Even if a 250 persons business had 2 Macs it would count as “Business adopting Mac”.
Joe, what numbers are you throwing around, may I ask?
Numbers are consistent with our business:
~8000 computers
~2400 are Macs, majority of Powerbooks though.
Seems the trend is to buy a Powerbook when a portable PC breaks. It is happening very fast.
MDN MW “feeling” as in “I have the feeling it is not that far fetched”
Dunno… I work for a large firm (7,000 employees) and we have a group doing wintel/Apple hardware installs. In Michigan alone last year, we installed 2200 Apple computers for 3 different clients.
Maybe there’s something to it?
(Ha… magic word is fear!)
Really large businesses tend to have advertising, design and/or art departments. Those departments usually are swimming in OS X machines. These numbers aren’t really so surprising when you get past the knee-jerk reactions and think about it.
All the large advertising firms I work with are at least 25% OS X. The creatives all get Macs, the account reps and accountant types use Wintel machines. If one or two ad agencies or some other similar businesses with large creative departments were included in the survey, that really change the percentages.
Rather than going apesh*t over the abbreviated pieces above, TRY READING THE ACTUAL ARTICLE!
If you read it, you will find it states CLEARLY…
“businesses with 250 employees or more… 17 percent of the employees were running Mac OS X on their desktop computer at work.”
“Businesses that had 10,000 or more employees, 21 percent of employees used Mac OS X on their desktop work computer.”
Why is this so difficult to believe? Most large companies have between 15-30% of their employees in management positions. Managers are the most likely Mac users. Why? Because they can often bypass usual purchasing routes by buying whatever they want on their expense account credit cards, or can often afford to buy computers themselves. It’s the low level workers that get the mass purchased Dells and all that Windows crap because the company buys them in large parcels at crap low prices and they can’t bypass channels.
furthermore.. Mac OS X makes networking with Windows environments a snap.. sooo.. what.. you think these companies are running some wacky Legacy software from the 80’s… with fluid networking, the employees can decide what kinda computer they want.. so many pick a Mac.. about 5 times as many pick a PC (you know.. cuz they need a floppy disk..
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> )
good news.. says more about the stability of networking and the ubiquity of businesses (MS office software.. ms office software.. ms office..) than anything else..
I did read the article, and I don’t believe the numbers. Not a lie, maybe a misprint? Weird mistake to make, is all I can say.
As much as a I like this to be true, I don’t believe this. In over ten years of dealing with companies of 20 – 50,000 people, I’ve never seen anyone use a Mac. (I’ve been through 100’s of these companies).
Web stats suggest around 3% of computers online are Macs. The proportion is probably slightly higher among home users, as many Mac users are forced to use PCs at work.
Macs are too expensive to be a real option for most businesses. Most businesses do not deal with graphics or design much, just database and connectivity. Apple obviously made a choice in the product that they would provide. If Apple, and their new “buddies” Intel can reduce the shelf price of Macs by $200 per processor across the board, maybe more businesses will get Macs.
Realist,
What 100s of companies are you talking about? I’ve been involved with many companies over 15 years in New York and L.A. and have seen many, many Macs in use — even in departments where you usually wouldn’t find them.
The time you save in not having to pamper a pc and put up with all of Windows nonsense should make up for any extra costs of the machine many many times over. Believe me! I just spent a misearble, frustrating few days dealing with freezes, crashes, sluggish performance, etc., etc.
twdldee said, “Macs are too expensive to be a real option for most businesses.”
yeah right.
even the laptops are cheaper than many pc laptops.
the story is accurate. if you can’t believe it, oh well toobadforyou.
Must be US thing?
Here in Canada you’ll find Macs within a large company’s Graphic and Marketing departments only. Do these people comprise from 17-21% of employees. Seriously doubt it.
And yes I am a Mac user and I work for a company of over 15,000 employees.
I use to work for a retail company of 400 employees which also offered in-class and remote training and combined we still didn’t have more than 20 people using Macs (myself included).
Afraid I don’t agree with the numbers from my own personal experience.
I can’t believe some of the garbage that gets printed on this forum. Why is it so hard for people to believe that people buy and use Macs? This is the same crowd that still believes the Wintel owns a 90% market share, when in fact, most Wintel machines out there can’t even run the latest version of Windows. So let’s deal with some facts:
1. Mac marketshare is grossly understated because people hang onto their macs for an average of 7 years and most numbers are based on recent sales.
2. When mac users buy new macs, they rarely throw the old one away. The either keep around for another family member or give it to someone they know who maybe can’t afford to go out and buy a computer.
3. Employees tend to buy whatever they want. I know a Medical organization that provides all PC’s to work station locations in a facility, but 90% of the doctors have a Mac on their desk.
4. At the end of the day, instead of talking market share based on sales, someone should try looking at the INSTALLED BASE to determine more accurate numbers relative to potential customers within a platform. I believe Mac enthusiasts would be pleasantly surprised and the WINTEL geeks would be shivering just a bit more, in their boots.
Bottom line…. Apple’s only just begun to change the trend…. Stay tuned, it will be a interesting ride to respectability…..
Well, the company that I work for has over 600 employees and as far as I know only myself and a guy in China who I recently switched are on Macs. I am sorry but from personal experience it does not seem like this number can be true.
UNLESS the normal market share numbers we hear are utter bullsh*t because they include all the ATMs, Cash Registers, Etc. If Macs are actually constituting 10-20% of actual COMPUTERS sold then possibly this might be true. I still think it is a long shot, but maybe – if there are lots of people in the advertising depts of these companies on Macs. For normal bread and butter business – no way.
Hell, that’s it….. If one company with 600 employees doesn’t make the switch then it must not be possible for the numbers to be correct. We should have just asked you in the first place, and then we could move on!
Give me a BREAK…. I’ve never seen so many sceptics and naysayers in a single location. At the end of it all, Apple’s smoking everyone’s ASS in the hardware marketplace and you want to wonder if the numbers are right?
Sit on the sidelines and play your little blog games, while many of us are watching are AAPL rise to the tune of 400%, and just keep wondering if there’s a trend out there. I’ll laugh all the way to the bank as Apple continues to innovate while the PC idiots keep wondering why people are growing frustrated with their bland OLD Wintel machines that crash on demand.
Instead of debating the numbers, try buying the stock and your tune will change.
Oh yeah, one more thing……
When was the last time that Microsoft delivered a NEW operating system? Now they have to rename it because of all the negative press around Longhorn 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and soon to be VISTA 2007?
Hang in there, they might get it out on time…..
JA: “UNLESS the normal market share numbers we hear are utter bullsh*t because they include all the ATMs, Cash Registers, Etc.”
Jack, it seems you are the last one to realize that. Market share is not consumer users, but everything that possibly can be run by an OS.
I can’t believe some of the garbage that gets printed on this forum.
Like some of your latter posts?
This is the same crowd that still believes the Wintel owns a 90% market share, when in fact, most Wintel machines out there can’t even run the latest version of Windows.
In “fact”? What evidence do you have to suggest “most” PC’s out there are comprised of 486’s and Pentium Pro’s? My old IBM thinkpad T22, with just a measly 900Mhz Pentium 3 processor and 256MB ram actually runs Windows XP Pro and all my light duty applications rather well.
So let’s deal with some facts:
You mean like the “facts” you stated above? Here we go…
1. Mac marketshare is grossly understated because people hang onto their macs for an average of 7 years and most numbers are based on recent sales.
Recent sales are what actually counts, because there simply is no way to accurately track computers already sold. And, its irrelevant. Using the same logic, PC marketshare is grossly understated as well, even more than Macs….as stats don’t include the large number of people who buy components seperately and build their own machines.
2. When mac users buy new macs, they rarely throw the old one away. The either keep around for another family member or give it to someone they know who maybe can’t afford to go out and buy a computer.
And the exact same thing happens to PC’s. You call this “facts”?
Anyone who throws out a perfectly good computer instead of passing it on or reselling it is a fool.
3. Employees tend to buy whatever they want. I know a Medical organization that provides all PC’s to work station locations in a facility, but 90% of the doctors have a Mac on their desk.
You want to pass this particular organization you know as “fact” (with a percentage number you simply guessed), yet you blast Jack Arend’s observations based on the same criteria? You only what to believe what you want, don’t you?
4. At the end of the day, instead of talking market share based on sales, someone should try looking at the INSTALLED BASE to determine more accurate numbers relative to potential customers within a platform. I believe Mac enthusiasts would be pleasantly surprised and the WINTEL geeks would be shivering just a bit more, in their boots.
Be careful what you wish for….. such a statistic may end that fantasy view of Apple’s marketshare you have. Do you really think, with the proliferation of dirt cheap PC’s (regardless of what you think of their quality) easily available to low income households, Apple would have a stronger installed base? Only in a fanatic’s dreamworld. What would a low income family choose (or any family that’s price conscious) ..a $499 mac mini plus cost of monitor, keyboard and other accessories or a complete system, with included accessories like printer/scanner/whatever for $299-$499 that various OEM’s often promote?
Hell, that’s it….. If one company with 600 employees doesn’t make the switch then it must not be possible for the numbers to be correct. We should have just asked you in the first place, and then we could move on!
I take it the reference to some medical organization you “know” with a guessed 90% figure holds more relevance?
At the end of it all, Apple’s smoking everyone’s ASS in the hardware marketplace and you want to wonder if the numbers are right?
How exactly is Apple smoking “everyone’s” ass in the marketplace? Care to be more specific?
And let’s take a look at the number game. It’s quite easy for people to distort reality….for example the notion of Apple outselling PC’s (as MDN headlined a few times before). These headlines rely on percentages, not individual units. For arguments sake, if Apple sold 15,000 units compared to 10,000 last year….that would be a 50% improvement. If 130,000 PC’s were sold compared to 100,000 last year, that’s a 30% improvement. By all acounts, Apple would appear to be performing better than the PC industry…although far more PC’s have actually been sold.
Sit on the sidelines and play your little blog games, while many of us are watching are AAPL rise to the tune of 400%, and just keep wondering if there’s a trend out there.
You can just as easily watch your portfolio fall by the same amount. Long term investing is risky business, as weekly/monthly fluctuations can be dramatic regardless of company financial health and most long term investors just don’t know when to bail when a stock is falling or when to buy when the stock is rising….as I’m sure you’ve had some jittery moments concering AAPL’s spring performance. Personally I would rather daytrade and put long term investments in bonds.
I’ll laugh all the way to the bank as Apple continues to innovate while the PC idiots keep wondering why people are growing frustrated with their bland OLD Wintel machines that crash on demand.
Apple has been on the ass end of innovating lately concerning desktop computing. If you had dropped the “PC idiots with their old wintel machines” garbage you would have had a point, as Apple did come a long way with portable media. However, Apple has fallen behind the PC industry for some time in terms of pure technological innovation….it is not even open for debate, unless you have no grasp of reality. Brutal competition (AMD vs Intel, Nvidia vs ATI, Samsung vs Micron, etc…) have brought great achievements in CPU, video, memory, chipset, bus advancements. Apple has played follow the leader.
Instead of debating the numbers, try buying the stock and your tune will change.
I would advise against any stock buying tips from people with emotional attachments to any particular company.