“Five years after splitting up with retailer Best Buy Stores Co. Inc., Apple Computer Inc. is agreeing to a trial reconciliation,” reports Robert Mullins for The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. “Cupertino-based Apple will begin selling its computers in a few of the Minneapolis-based big-box retailer’s stores beginning Aug. 10.”
Mullins reports, “The move is viewed by analysts as Apple’s attempt to find more retail channels to sell its products to boost a market share stubbornly stuck in single digits. Apple is getting back into Best Buy to expand its distribution channels to both Apple’s stores and others, says Stephen Baker, director of research at NPDTechworld, a research firm in Reston, Va.”
“Based on the number of units Apple sold, its market share was 2 percent at the end of the second quarter, down from 2.8 percent in the year-ago second quarter. Measured in dollars, its share fell to 3.5 percent this second quarter, from 4.5 percent a year ago. While those numbers do not include sales at Apple’s own stores or its Web site, it indicates that Apple needs to boost sales through… retail channels [other than its own],” Mullins reports.
Full article here.
Oh Please.
While Apple’s retail market share may have dropped, Apple has been boosting their overall consumer market share… Gee, how can that be? Do I even need to answer that question? Duh.
Where, when, and how Apple sells to consumers is a nice statistic for Apple’s Channel Marketing Team to chew on, but it is completely obvious that Apple’s own Retail Stores are a huge success for the company, and direct sales have swallowed retail store sales numbers for Apple… Okay, so I did answer the question.
To semantically imply that Apple is in trouble because it is selling more directly via it’s own retail channel and not through traditional outlets HP or eMachines sells through is ridiculous.
If this is the logic, then Dell should be ready to fold up shop in the consumer space. But uh, Dell’s fastest growth market is consumer, and you won’t find a single PC sold via a CompUSA or anywhere else retail.
Apple is in fine shape in the consumer market. What is key, is that while Apple is growing their consumer share, they are not sitting back and sticking with a direct sales only model. Rather, the outreach to Best Buy, is only further evidence that Apple is intent on growing their traditional channel sales, but doing it in a manner to correctly position them against the competition.
Regards,
Mark
to be sure the ‘media’ will jump on that 2.0% number because they are idiots. Ture also that Apple needs to boost it share – as it has always needed. I remember some reports showing the top computer vendors – Dell was not even on the list, not even at the bottom. WHY? They sell direct … what is that about figures never lie, yet liars always figure.
The only Mac I ever remember getting at ‘retail’ was the first Mac – the P H A T Mac 512KB some time around 1987 … I guess my purhcases count for nothing
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Maybe there is hope at Best Buy?!?!
I stopped by my local BB today to pick up a cassette adapter for my iPod and overheard a BB sales rep **passionately** praise the iPod as the “best in its class”, “easy to use” with “lots of accessories” at which point I jumped in looking for the cassette adapter. Of course I told the nice lady customer, this sales rep was right, the iPod is the BEST, that it has changed my life, that my wife and I argue over it every morning!
I am doubly shocked by the positive sales effort given the fact he could not open the cabinet to show it to her and that in 2 weeks and Apple Store opens here (killing their Apple sales!)