“Apple’s influence on tech culture may be large, but its global share of the computing market is stuck at a boutique-size 2 percent. The Cupertino, California, company needs to keep trumping its own designs to entice the Mac faithful to replace their suddenly dowdy-looking computers. And it needs something electric to revive iMac sales, which have fallen this year as consumers switch to laptops or cheaper desktops computers,” Dawn C. Chmielewski reports for The San Jose Mercury News.
“The revamped iMac’s austere yet striking design will undoubtedly attract some new buyers. But it probably won’t dramatically increase Apple’s slice of the computing market, analysts say. ‘A big success for Apple is a small perturbation for the PC market overall,’ said Roger L. Kay, an analyst for technology research firm IDC. ‘If Apple really knocks the cover off the ball, it can rise by a couple of tenths of a percent in market share,'” Chmielewski reports.
“Analysts agree there are indications that some consumers whose first experience with Apple was an iPod are now making the transition to Macs. Apple’s most recent quarterly report, released in June, showed the highest shipments of Macs in 3 1/2 years,” Chmielewski reports. “Apple is trying to encourage more PC-to-Mac converts with a marketing campaign that touts the new iMac G5 as a product ‘from the creators of the iPod.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We know that cool design alone can’t seem to win Windows converts. We think that the iPod has some sort of unmeasured “halo effect,” that helps Windows users consider a Mac for their next computer purchase. We also believe that Windows viruses, spyware, adware, patches, service packs, etc., are driving people to the realization that, contrary to what Microsoft told them, Windows never really came close to the Mac at all. We know that ‘Longhorn’ delays, along with it being stripped of its best vaporware features, are leading to frustration with Windows users. We see Apple Retail Stores springing up seemingly everywhere. The big question that analysts above seem to have missed is: Will the combination of superior Mac design, iPod’s influence, Windows’ morass of security problems, the disappointment of ‘Longhorn,’ and the existence of close-by Apple Retail stores form a sort of “super market share mover” that will drive Macintosh share to rise dramatically?
With iPod riding high, Mac OS X years ahead of XP, a stripped Longhorn years from shipping, Windows punishing its users for using the Internet, and local Apple Retail Stores just a few miles away for the majority of U.S. shoppers, Apple couldn’t ask for a better chance to increase Mac share. If not now, when?
Oh, Apple, now would be a good idea to actually advertise and show and tell the world about Mac OS X on TV, radio, and print, too. What, exaclty, are you waiting for?
As long as they count computers sold as terminals for department stores Apple’s market share isn’t going to go up all that much.
simply sweet
If there is any reason to wait, I think they may be waiting for Tiger. Why advertise Panther now, only to be replaced by Tiger within a short timeframe?
If Macs really took off, could Apple keep up? Recent delays with hot products (Dual 2.5 G5, iPod Mini, etc) shows that maybe they don’t have the capacity.
Maybe their strategy is slow, but steady growth – something managable.
Because if you advertise what panther does now and wow them, then show tiger and wow them more, they’ll see a company that not only makes claims about the future of it’s OS but delivers on them too.
Market share is one of those “figures lie & liars figure” topics.
Firstly, we know that Apple’s market share of the newly purchased laptop market is skyrocketing. I hesitate to give the figure, but I do know that on university campuses Apple has better than a 50% share of newly purchased laptops.
Which leads us to the issues of market share determination that tend to skew the figures.
1/ Windows marketshare figures include every box sold to operate as point of sale terminals, video recorders, alarm systems, heavy equipment controllers etc. etc. etc. All these “not being used as a desktop computer” sales are real and can’t be discounted – but neither should the Windows community be able to claim that they represent some sort of end-user consumer choice.
2/ Mac users tend to use their computers for much longer periods without replacement. Again, this skews the numbers. How many Windows users purchase a new PC every 2 years and simply throw the old one into the closet?… Answer… Lots…. I’ve a closet full of old machines from my Windows days…. a new machine every year. I’ve had my iMac for 2.5 years and it will do nicely for the forseeable future…. 4 or 5 more years.
Yes, I purchased a new Powerbook laptop to have that capability, but the original flat 15 iMac will still be cooking 5 years from now. How many Windows users can say that?
So… bottom line:
1/ Apples market share is not as insignificant as Windows supporters would claim.
2/ Windows is self-destructing on viruses and stability issues. As a public issue, this is increasing exponentially.
3/ Longhorn is a dream within a dream and will reamin so for years. Indications are that Longhorn will not work on old Windows machines – its so RAM and processor hungry.
4/ The next few years will be a time of growth for Apple, but when Longhorn is introduced Windows users will have to decide to a/ Stick with their old equipment and XP, 2000 etc. or b/ Purchase a new computer…… THEN the choice will be Longhorn or OSx with that new computer.
Just watch Apple’s market share then!
teh marketplace always migrates to the better products eventually…
moo.
If you stop and think of all the Best Buys, Circuit Citys, CompUSAs, etc. around the country with store shelves filled with multiple-branded PCs at rock-bottom prices; along with the in-your-face TV advertising bombarding consumers with low price computer deals; it’s a wonder that Apple stil has a market share.
As long as PCs are sold on the cheap, like toasters, the Macintosh is going to have a hard time gaining market share; even with stepped-up sales on Apple’s part.
Consumers are going to have to see the quality of computing difference when using a Mac. Apple is going to have to keep inventing great digital hub applications and appliances to penetrate the home market.
Another thing also is demand can easily outstrip supply with Mac’s. Just look at the iPod.
Apple doesn’t want to be the dull computer in every department store and office.
Mac’s are appliance computers, they look good, they work good and they are reliable as all hell.
Microsoft is a dull boring corporation, just like all other dull boring corporations for dull boring people.
Apple is cool, exciting and fun!
Mac users are happy users, and yes we do get a bit cultish because we want others to be happy too.
It’s not like worshiping a fake entity or belonging to Rev Jim Jones or being a Branch Davidian, where our minds are taken over.
Apple, especially under Steve Jobs, has made us satisified with our computing experience.
I have PC users pawing my Mac all the time.
I don’t see and Mac users pawing a PC, it’s like WTF is this sh*t?
So fuck the buisness world, they are out to fuck us. We slave for them for years like drones and they take our pension funds in a scam.
They outsource our jobs overseas and make us wear these dull expensive clothes that break our wallets every week to keep clean, just for minimum wage.
Screw them, screw Microsoft, you’ll never get rich slaving for them, the secret is to take a chance and learn a lot about how different things work, so you can decide in any moment, how to make money flow into your hands.
Of course half of our lives we spend in ignorance anyway, easilly duped and controlled.
Religion, politics, jobs etc. They got you and they fuck you.
I think advertising directly about the benefits of OSX would do it, but I also think from 15 years as an Apple user that there is a sort of a passive-agressive mindset within the company that says: I am superior, therefore you must come to ME and beg to buy my product.
So to advertise in a very direct way to the “great unwashed” is not likely to happen.
What advertising there will be is more of a
“Mac users are cool people, therefore you should buy one in order to be cool.” mindset.
My belief is that, if you have to try to be cool,(which is what 99% of pop culture adherents try to be) you can’t possibly BE cool.
And so those us us who use Macs as the best practical computer tool get ignored, and I think we are the market that has the most potential for growth. But they just don’t advertise to us.
Too bad.
More:
You can’t blame people for seeing Macs as ” a pretty computer that looks cool on my desk”,
and therefore sees them as a toy when that is the way they are advertised, ie based upon their looks rather than how they work.
You get what you ask for whether you like it or not.
With my Powerbook, I connect to several different client networks over Ethernet or Wi-Fi, manage and upgrade network devices, sniff traffic, ssh into Linux and Solaris servers, and both TS and SMB into Windows boxes from the same computer that carries round my music library, my photo collection, invoice records for the last five years, personal and business email correspondence for the same period, my address book (synchronised with my Bluetooth phone) and even my latest video project. It burns CDs/DVDs, connects to LCD projectors for presentations, wakes from sleep in a couple of seconds every time, and never, ever infects anyone with a virus.
When a computer does all of this, and more importantly does it effortlessly, why anyone would want to buy Windows is beyond me. If you want to get anything done on your computer, rather than just play games, the Mac is simply the best tool for the job.
Apple simply need to get that message across to back up what people are reading in their newspapers, and the Mac will be selling nearly two million a quarter.
According to International Data Corp., Apple�s piece of the U.S computer pie slid from 3.5 percent in 2002 to 3.2 percent in 2003. That�s certainly not good news. However, the fact is that the number of Mac users isn�t declining. It�s rising � but it�s not rising enough to gain a bigger slice of the percentage number of computer users. That�s a problem, but not as serious a problem as some reports would have you believe.
Fact is the IT market is growing fast and it is growing fast in the corporate sector. New businesses getting online for the most go cheap PC with Windows pre-installed. Also machine not used as PCs (cash registers, time-scheduler, you name it) count as PC sales. If you compare single sectors you will easily see that Apple presence there is skyrocketing and Apple is selling many more units each quarter, still its global market share floats around 3%. In a fast growing market that means Apple – which does not compete in all sectors – is still capable to grow as fast as the overall market. In laymen terms: Apple is growing quite substantially and its revenues do actually show that: +30% in the Q3 2004. If you do not see that as a growing business you have some issues with your brain.
Squash the+Beatles:
Feeling a little colic in the tummy today?
(I’m just teasing; truth is: I sympathize with your cynicism.)
The home market, where Apple is competing, is relatively a puny slice of the pie. Even if Apple were to get double presence there it would translate into a small decimal percentage for its global market share.
In high educational market Apple registers some 54% increase in sales, and it shows. Just walk around some of those campuses and all you see is iBooks and Powerbooks. Is that +54% increase translating into anything visible in the global market share? Are you kidding?
Concerning Apple lasting longer: Kelli McNeil in a column for OSViews put things into perspective: “Let�s say two people comprise 100 percent of all computer users on the planet. Each of these individuals bought a new computer for themselves at the same time; one a Macintosh and the other a Windows PC. Market share and installed base dynamics would indicate 50/50 percentages. But if after two years time, the Windows user decides to replace his computer, �market share� dynamics will show that Windows occupies 50 percent more of the market than that of Macintosh users� even though there are still only two individuals using a computer.�
In fact, Al Fasoldt, writing for the Syracuse Post-Standard estimates that 8-12 percent of the personal computers used in homes today are Macs. He even thinks that Apple�s own figures for the number of Mac users worldwide (25 million) is low; Fasoldt thinks it�s closer to 35 million once you �add in the number of new users in the last few months.�
And in a Forbes article last June, Arik Hesseldahl estimates that Apple has 10 percent of the world�s computer users, while its sales usually account for about 3-5 percent of the world global personal computer market.
The hardware lasts longer, and since Mac users don�t replace their computers as frequently, that translates to decreased �market share� even though the installed base may grow. And for installed base, who knows how many �dumb� terminals and render-farm machines tally in the final computer
head-count?
But in the long run, all this may be somewhat moot. Perception is everything and if you look around Apple portable are everywhere, much more than before. In the long run Apple will be able to grow faster then the overall PC market – rather than at same rate – and its global market share will increase. How much? Maybe a 1% in a couple years and Macs will be everywhere to see because Apple sells to people, not to corporations. And people will start to wonder: “How comes Apple with a puny 4~5% market shares is all I can see around me?”
But pundits will keep bashing Apple for the insignificant presence in the market share…
Ive just ordered a new 40gb ipod from the Apple Store online and they are saying delivery will be by the 10th November!!
Looks like everyone wants a mac product these days!!
I was also in a John Lewis Store (UK) on friday looking at all the macs and a college kid was looking at the G5 dual PowerMacs and new displays with his parents.
His parents said to him that they “did NOT want him to have a windows pc because windows is insecure and that that they wanted him to buy a mac because it was an investment in his future”.
I was stunned by this (having used macs for 12 years) – that windows users now know that macs are so much more secure than windows!
I smiled and as I left the store the college kid ended up buying a G5 dual 2ghz Mac and a new 23″ Apple Cinema Display!
Welcome the the world of the Mac – you lucky guy!
It should be clear by now that Apple has more commercial products than Microsoft and PC manufactureres have as conceptualized ideas. In other words, Apple is on the cutting edge while Microsoft and most other PC manufacturers remain on the trailing edge.
People who continue to chose or remain with Windows deserve what they get.
As long as Apple continues to innovate and draw a profit, I will be content, regardless of marketshare.
I myself have 2 macs at home (a 15″ Titanium G4 Powerbook and a Dual 800mhz Silver G4 Powermac) with a wireless broadband network, and will be replacing both macs with a 17″ G5 Powerbook and a 15″ G5 Powerbook when they are released!
I also have a 30gb ipod and my wife has a pink ipod mini.
I probably will also get one of the new 20″ Apple Displays too when the G5 laptops are released too!
“It should be clear by now that Apple has more commercial products than Microsoft and PC manufactureres have as conceptualized ideas. In other words, Apple is on the cutting edge while Microsoft and most other PC manufacturers remain on the trailing edge.
People who continue to chose or remain with Windows deserve what they get.
As long as Apple continues to innovate and draw a profit, I will be content, regardless of marketshare.”
I totally agree with you MEAT OF THE MOOSE!
As long as Apple remains innovative and they don’t become a ‘Dell’ I will stay with them through good and bad times!
Bloody hell, a dual G5 AND a 23″ Apple Cinema Display for college: Some people really are lucky!
But yes, I might be dreaming but it all seems – with the distinguo of course – as for smoke habits. Everyone were smoking, it was cool, not smoking was… unthinkable. Who ever would have thought that a cigarette one day would have been so uncool and smokers looked at as poor bastards with an addiction.
Let enough water under the bridges and Windows users will be the IT smoke addicts of 2010.
Apple user expect more and get more (G5 iMac, Spotlight, 64-bit processing, etc.).
Windows users want more and get less (Internet Explorer, no 64-bit processing, emasculated Longhorn, etc.).
It’s not about market share- it’s about market. The Macintosh has 15+ million OS X users and about another 10 or so million on OS 9 and previous versions. The majority of these computers are in the hands of people with a very different demographic than the average Windoze PC user. They are more educated, early adopters of technological innovations, buy more software, are less likely to steal software and generally more affluent. If you are a software developer, you ignore this market at the risk of your own profit potential.
I think smokers are sexy.