“A study published last week said 46% of Apple’s U.S.installed user base is 55 or older. That’s compared with only 25.2% of home PC users who are in that age category, reported MetaFacts Inc., a national market research firm,” Sharon Gaudin reports for InformationWeek. “Now, those numbers are for homes where a Mac or a MacBook is the primary computer, and it doesn’t take the iPod, a phenom of the Gen X and Gen Y crowds, into account. MetaFacts’ numbers, though, caused quite a stir in an industry that sees Apple sitting on the cool edge of the market, drawing in throngs of young and tech-savvy users.”
Gaudin reports, “The survey also drew a quick response from Apple. Just a few hours after the results of the study were published on InformationWeek.com, an Apple spokeswoman sent an e-mail asserting that MetaFacts had it all wrong. ‘The MetaFacts data you cited in your story is incorrect. Our customer data shows that only around 20% of Mac users are over the age of 55,’ wrote Lynn Fox, a director of Mac PR at Apple, in an e-mail. ‘The Mac is more popular than ever, and we are thrilled that our products appeal to people of ages 1 to 100.'”
Gaudin reports, “Van Baker, research VP at Gartner, said they don’t have specific studies on the age of Apple’s installed base, but the MetaFacts numbers are surprising to him. ‘I sincerely doubt those numbers are accurate,’ said Baker. ‘That just runs completely counter to everything you see when you walk into an Apple store. It’s not full of Americans approaching retirement but it’s full of young people.’ Baker did point out that one Gartner study showed that the average age of a male head of household buying a Mac is 39.4 years old, while it’s 41 for a PC.”
Gaudin reports, “Tim Bajarin, a principal analyst at Creative Strategies, Inc., said… that among new registered Mac users only 22% to 24% are in the 55 and older category.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Nearly half of Apple Mac users are over 55? – November 30, 2006
I’m glad I’m one of the 20%.
Let’s see, if 20% of new customers are over 55, plus the established base that has been there since ’84, am I missing something here? Why wouldn’t more than 20% of USERS be over 55? And what dam difference does it make? Another division? Windows and Mac users. Republicans and Democrats. Old farts and whippersnappers…
Old people buy Macs.
Young people buy Macs.
Men buy Macs.
Women buy Macs.
Liberals buy Macs.
Conservatives buy Macs.
All in roughly the same proportions as PCs. The main difference is College students, who buy Macs in disproportionately large numbers.
Done. Can I get this published and earn some money?
100% of the Mac users are going to die or
100% of the Mac users are alive.
100% of the Mac users use Macs.
Is this what you call ‘old news’?
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Either study has this flaw: The owner of the computer may not be the user!
What if a 30 year old buys a computer for his daughter? What if a 30 year old buys a computer for his mother?
These studies are just indicators, not fact finders.
39.4 vs. 41… STOP THE PRESSES!!!!
My study is 100% accurate
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You mean we older guys are now the minority? Sniff……I am sad and lonely now….
The thread we had last week on this subject was the most fun one that I’ve seen in awhile.
especially since Zune Tang and Peterson didn’t irritate my ass
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Bonus
Out of the air analysis….you forgot the newest rising demographic
PC users buy macs
i do computer simulation and analysis for a living. i can tell one thing though. most of the people that report these “findings” have only a tenuous grasp of logic and statistics.
Threads like this are why I love MDN. It oozes with reality-check and sometimes, just good ole sarcasm. ::)
and lets not forget that 87.32% of statistics are invented on the spot.
yup. young people browse in the Apple Store.
Old people buy however.
Who does Apple think buys $3000 computers?
It certainly isn’t that kid who can barely pay for a pair of sneakers. He’s more likely to buy a cheap sub 1000 PC. Include the games situation and voila. Makes sense.
‘The Mac is more popular than ever, and we are thrilled that our products appeal to people of ages 1 to 100.’
Damn. I was helping a neighbor who is 101 in her computer purchase. Now I find out it is a waste time.
Listen to me, sonny! I was hip at 24 and I’m still hip at 64!
Agist humbuggery and buncombe, the lot of it!
“….I am sad and lonely now….”
Never mind Buster. Perhaps 46% of MDN posters are over 55.
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I bet 80% of all car drivers are under 55! This kind of survey is pointless and retarded!!!
…and we are thrilled that our products appeal to people of ages 1 to 100…
Hell, I got unreleased sperm clamoring for a 30″ iMac with Leopard! F*ck’s he talkin’ about!? Want to increase market share? Provide me with some breed stock!
87.32% of statistics are invented on the spot?
Ha! Don’t mean to contradict you, but it’s a well known fact that it’s 87.16% — that’s a whopping 1/5 of one percent difference.
Of course, that includes a margin of error of .2%. And a rounding to the second decimal error of 50%.
Metafacts is busted. Credibility heading down the drain.
Can’t believe they didn’t confirm the results with Apple before releasing.
whazzatsay? dag nabbit, forgot my bifocals again!
“MacBooks are the coolest machines on the market,”
Not when they first came out – not at least until Apple offered a firmware update.
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In most cases the PARENT will be the one purchasing and registering the computer. Even if it is primarily the kids computer.
So stats could be misinterpreted.
I purchased and am the official registered owner of our iMac, but the houshold under-teen has taken it over!
Had to buy a MacBookPro for us older than 45 parental units.
I am over 1 and under 100
w00t! i fit the demographic