What’s boosting Apple Computer’s Mac sales?

20 years ago

“According to popular consensus, the much beloved iPod has boosted Apple Computer’s Mac sales and may ultimately help the company get into phones,” Michael Kanellos reports for CNET News. But five years of PC sales data paint a far more complicated picture than conventional wisdom would have it. Did the arrival and popularity of the iPod coincide with a reversal of an ominous slide in sales of personal computers at Apple? Yes. But sales at many other PC makers grew as well.”

“In fact, industry experts say other factors, such as lower prices and new technology, may have as much to do with the slow reversal of the Mac’s fortunes as the iPod,” Kanellos reports.

“Overall, Apple shipped 52 percent more computers in 2005 than it did in 2002. And so far, 2006 is shaping up to be a banner year. In the third quarter, Apple accounted for 2.79 percent of the global market and 5.71 percent of the U.S. market,” Kanellos reports. “How much of the surge can be attributed to the iPod? That depends on your perspective. Market share in PCs has jumped. A similar “halo effect,” theoretically, could give Apple a boost if, as many expect, it pushes into phones. But the iPod isn’t the only thing goosing Mac sales.”

Full article here.
It’s a combination of things that are boosting Apple’s Mac sales, not just one thing. In random order:
• Windows insecurity, frustration
• More knowledgeable, more tech savvy consumers
• Apple’s growing network of retail stores
• Mac product placement in media
• Steve Jobs’ keynotes and special events
• Apple’s robust financial health
• ‘Switcher’ and ‘Get a Mac’ campaigns
• iPod Halo Effect
• Boot Camp, Parallels offering Windows users a more palatable way to try Mac
• Lower Mac prices, price competitiveness with comparably-featured Windows PCs
• Mac users helping spread the word: “there is a better way”
• Excellent Mac reviews
• Excellent Mac OS X and Apple software (iLife, others) reviews
• iTunes for Windows Halo Effect
• Superior design