“It has been a year, and the masses aren’t switching to Macs. Last summer, Apple Computer began airing the TV commercials that were supposed to chip away at Microsoft’s empire and sell more of its underdog Mac computers. There was the girl who switched to a Mac after her Windows computer ate her homework, the daughter who used her Apple laptop to rescue digital photos on Christmas,” reports Jon Fortt for Knight Ridder News Service. “With a year’s worth of sales numbers under their belts, three major market research firms show roughly the same thing — Cupertino-based Apple is holding its ground, but the only PC company attracting a lot of switchers is Dell Computer.”
“According to NPD Techworld, in the U.S. consumer market Round Rock, Texas-based Dell jumped from 30 percent a year ago to 37 percent in May, while Apple hovered between 3 percent and 4 percent,” writes Fortt.
“There are other signs that the numbers are not shifting in Apple’s favor. Subscriptions to Macworld, a major magazine for Apple followers, are unchanged at 400,000 compared with last year. Also, Apple said Wednesday that it sold fewer computers this spring than it did a year ago, though it brought in more money because more of those computers were high-end laptops,” Fortt writes.
Fortt continues, “The results of the switcher campaign so far underscore Apple’s odd status in the computing industry. Though its image is widely seen as cooler and smarter than its peers, that doesn’t always help the company outsell its rivals. ‘It’s not likely that Apple can do anything to change the structure of the industry,’ said Steve Baker, analyst at NPD Techworld. ‘For them to get to 5 or 8 percent market share doesn’t seem like something that can happen, given the way the business is going right now.” Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Our own SteveJack had an idea a while back and wrote, “Listen, Apple needs to put its money to use effectively for once. Take all of that ‘preaching to the choir/propping up the Mac magazines’ marketing cash and put it to good use instead by targeting a large corporation or two and getting them to switch. I don’t care if Apple has to use some of its $4.5 billion cash horde to get it done. Whatever it takes. Get a Fortune 500 company to switch from Windows-based computing to Mac OS X and Mac hardware. Nobody outside of current Mac users and Cupertino thinks a Mac can run a serious business. Think of all of the myths that would be shattered or altered; Mac software, software compatibility with other Wintel businesses, speed, productivity, IT costs, etc.”
Read SteveJack’s article, “I could market Macintosh better than Apple Marketing in my sleep” over on our Opinion section here.
Apple knows “Switch” didn’t work. Note how Music replaced it in the major tabs of their site’s navigation and switch became a minor tab. Note also: no new switcher ads in quite some time. Even though the campaign should have targeted “Adders,” meaning “keep your PC and add a Mac – we’ll let you choose your favorite after a month or so,” until Apple wakes up and SHOWS THE OS AND THE COMPUTER DOING COOL THINGS THAT WINTEL CANNOT DO OR DO WELL ON TV, instead of focusing on case designs and cutesy concept/image ads, Mac market share will remain stagnant.
Again, Apple, please show the OS, show iChat AV in action, even in beta form, show Safari, show iTMS, show Expose, show the Dock magnification – use the uniqueness and the reason we buy Macintosh (the OS and apps) to sell Macintosh. And fire TBWAChiatDay, (Apple’s ad agency) they’ve failed to tell you this and they’ve failed you, Apple.
The reason the switch campaign was a flop, is simply, whether you all can stand to believe it or not, is that windows users AREn’t sufficiently dissatisfied with XP to be looking for an alternative…simple really. We simply cannot relate to Mac users, or the odd switcher, claims that XP is so unstable… and we should know!
Iff the Mac ran XP, as well as OSX, then PC users would have options and might consider switching and running their existing s/ware.
Macs aren’t seen as ‘Porsches’ at all, they’re seen as a dwindling nerd platform which is slow to incorporate new technology, compared to PC, and far less competitively keenly priced.
The inability of Apple to contend with the concept of a two button mouse, is laughable, or out of touch with what the world finds sensible, likewise the scroll wheel…
You guys are so out of touch…the dudes that Dell markets to today ARE the corporate heads of tomorrow…and they buy huge numbers of PCs in super market like PC store with multiple checkouts…
You all really need to step back alot from your navel gazing…
DeClair cracks the whip! Some of what you say is true, some an overgeneralization. I won’t get into it cause you seem to take this topic a little personal.
But for the most part the idea that XP aren’t dissatisfied is correct. Most PC users just fsck around with Solitaire and Games, and they’re getting all they need. If Mac made a serious play for the gaming market, you’d see market share go up pretty significantly.
…mmmm….
er.. mmmmmm….
Sorry, I was staring at my navel.
Anyway, to point to this or that statistic (or read The Salt Lake Tribune) and proclaim the Switch Ad campaign a flop is silly really. I’ve heard of these so called ‘switchers’ online, from friends and I actually know a few. These things take time I suppose. Perhaps the people who think the campaign was a flop were thinking that Apple would have at least swallowed 90% of the market by now. Fools. From what I’ve seen I personally believe the Switch campaign has worked to some degree.
I also personally couldn’t give a fsck either way.
The fact of the matter is that the Mac is no longer sufficiently ‘different’…a PC can do anything a Mac can do…and I’m not talking about any particular program, but function.
Jobs knows this, hence his campaign to attempt to pick up some dissatisfied W98 users who hadn’t upgraded to XP.
Job’s latest strategy to buy exclusivity by buying alot of apps, rebadge, and excluding PC users (Logic) will backfire…look at how Adobe is backing away from the Mac platform, even MS.
Don’t think you can gain market share without them guys…don’t believe the G5 will save you either…it’s an IBM computer with an Apple OS.
I had to use OSX the other day…it’s ugly! can’t believe all the introduced raster lines. Is it meant to be a retro look, cause I felt like I was looking at an old monitor! Couldn’t stand the corny sound effects and animated windows closing…quite distracting and unnecessary.
I give the Mac platform 2 years max, the market share can only continue down.
Declar – you have it backwards. Windows will have two left when Longhorn comes out as hardware/software OS that requires a retina scan and a MS team to physically encase into concrete into your house to activate and use. MS wants to sell the OS only to businesses and they want consumers to buy a sealed set-top Xbox to watch MS media, listen to MS WMA audio, play XBox games, and buy products via MSN using MS Passport dollars. The fact that they can’t control any portion of the security of any pieces of their OS & servers for more than 18 hours should scare you but apparently you prefer to be in their hands – hey, that’s your call – there are always those that prefer the ruling party – never mind what they actually stand for.