“Apple’s new Mac mini could be about to do for the personal computer market what its iconic iPod has achieved for the music industry and the role of the internet,” Perry Gourley reports for The Scotsman. “Apple’s latest product is being tipped to shake up the personal computer market and dramatically speed up the advent of the digital home. When the Mac mini arrives in the shops in the US later this month, and probably next month in the UK, it seems destined to become another must-have gadget.”
“Ian Harris, deputy editor of MacFormat magazine, thinks the Mac mini could herald the start of a new era in the computer market,” Gourley reports. “‘Apple has been known for making expensive computers which people have been prepared to pay more for because of what they offer,’ he said. ‘But the iPod has given the mainstream market a taste for Apple. PC users who like the simplicity, elegance and style of their iPods will be tempted to buy a Mac mini.'”
Gourley reports, “‘We believe the Mac mini will increase the percentage of iPod-toting Windows users who purchase a Mac by almost threefold,’ suggests Needham analyst Charles Wolf. What Apple does next increasingly dictates future trends across the media and consumer electronics industries. Success for the Mac mini could have much wider implications than just fuelling Apple’s already rocketing earnings figures… Apple appears on the brink of making a real assault on the personal computer market, where it currently has only a 3% share. That assault comes on the back of the phenomenal success of the iPod music player, which has created what has been dubbed the ‘halo effect’ for Apple. That is driving significant sales increases across Apple’s product range as more consumers become Apple devotees. Its latest quarterly figures, released last week, were the proof of the pudding. Sales of Mac computers have topped a million – up 26% on last year, compared with a predicted rise across the computer industry of about 10%.”
“Bank of America analyst Keith Bachman said in a note to clients that the bank believed Apple was now in a very strong position to grow market share, citing its better media capabilities and virus protection as a real pull for consumers who have been won over by the iPod,” Gourley reports. “Whether Apple will ever succeed in winning back the double-digit share of the personal computer market it once had remains to be seen – as does whether it can make sufficient returns in a mass market where other manufacturers have struggled. But the company’s progress in recent years still represents a remarkable revival story under Steve Jobs,” Gourley reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Does market share really matter? Isn’t “installed base,” currently around 25 million Mac users worldwide, of more importance to Mac software developers, peripheral makers and writers of device drivers, online banking web developers, and the like? As long as the Mac user base continues to grow, developers and others others should never forget that there are 25+ million Mac users waiting for Mac versions of their products – and Mac users’ ranks are growing daily.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Report: Apple gained significant market share of computer industry during past quarter – January 12, 2005
Apple finally stops overreaching for ‘switchers’ and goes for ‘adders’ instead – January 12, 2005
Switching from Windows to Mac? Don’t forget to ask to ‘cross-grade’ your software – December 21, 2004
Is Apple’s market share really that important? – October 18, 2004
The 25 million installed base is a fabrication of this site and other similar cult sucking arenas. Sell some damn computers. Get more market share. Excite developers. Lose the cloven hooves.
Take advantage of the bent of pc and isp’s to advertise “free” or easy virus and popup protection. A cheap mac was a no brainer. Advertising that exposes Windows biggest flaw is too. Hopefully it won’t take two or three years for the smart guys to figure it out this time.
I can’t understand why people say, �this will fail, or this will succeed�. What people must say is that they THINK it will fail/succeed.
I for one think it will succeed at least a moderate degree, even if no Windows users buy one. As Mac users, we all understand how great the platform is, and we re used to paying a lot more to get that satisfaction than $499! If there are still OS 9 or older Mac users out there, this will really help get the on the OS X bandwagon. As others have pointed out, there are lots of Mac users out there who aren�t running OS X. The Mac mini is a switch product for them too. If everyone ran OS X, that would help developers and increase there customer base, even if not a single Windows user switched.
I switched to Macs a little over 2 years ago, after about 2 months of dissatisfaction with my new Windows XP machine. Now I just feel sad for others who still use Windows and are just afraid to try a Mac. Many feel that because they can’t get much done with Windows, which is so popular, that they will never be able to figure out a Mac, which must be so different. We know that they couldn’t be more wrong, but it seems that many are just to conservative to try. It’s really disheartening.
Joe McConnell
The 25 million installed base is a fabrication of this site and other similar cult sucking arenas.
Just out of curiousity, what do you think the number is Joe? I think the number is pretty accurate. The number of PCs out there, currently in use is somewhere between 200 and 300 million worldwide, I believe.
Since you doubt MDN’s numbers, can you provide a link to numbers you believe are more accurate and an explanation of why you think they are closer to the mark?
Either way it amounts to a pissing contest. What really matters is whether the software and hardware solutions you want are available on your platform (FCP is not available on the PC, AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max is not available on the Mac).
In the 5 days now since the Mac mini was announced, I personally know of 4 people that have switched and have ordered their first ever Macintosh. And I know I can’t be the only one. The Mac mini has changed everything.
At least with OS X, Steve Jobs himself said during his keynote that there was an installed base of 13 million OS X users in some form or another.
Joe, interesting comment about Apple needing to “sell some computers” – but isn’t that what they’ve been doing? 26% increase in computer sales this quarter over last. And just exactly what do you mean by “lose the cloven hooves?”
Is it just me, or does it seem like PC supporters are getting more hostile and vitriolic with their attacks on Macs and their users? Perhaps they, too, feel the tide turning. The shade is being lifted from the masses. Double-digit market share is on its way.
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In the last year I’ve read reports about university computer shops reporting big increases in Mac sales – from 20% to 40% in some cases. This was without the ‘Mini’. Don’t forget most students don’t have parents who can afford an iMac.
Although the Apple Stores are doing very well, staff have reported that many look longingly at the computers but are dismayed by the prices, and they leave with an iPod or empty-handed.
Combined with the established Mac-market (I’m buying one as a second computer.), the Mini’s ‘media-potential for the living-room, and its appeal to many institutions as an affordable alternative to the increasingly unpopular Windows platform ….
Can this computer fail?
His Steveness himself said that there are 14 million Panther users. My guess is that the installed base of OS X is probably somewhere less than 20 million. My advice to the hangers on- OS 9 is dead. It’
s past time to get with the program. Cube owners, the miniMac is the new cube.
“His Steveness himself said that there are 14 million Panther users. […]”
No he didn’t. You have to listen closely to how he words this “how successful OS X has been” rhetoric that he gives at the beginning of these marketing speeches. He talks about Panther and then says there are over 14 million OS X users. If you’re not paying attention, it sounds like he’s saying there are 14 million Panther users. Apple doesn’t break down OS X numbers by version. You can look up previous announcements, do a little math and determine that there are at least more than 4 million Panther users, for sure, but how much more than that is pure guess work.