“A funny thing has happened over the past couple of quarters. While Apple has been firing on all cylinders, and the iPhone is selling hundreds of thousands of units a month, its Macintosh business is the hottest line of all. It roared back in the quarter that ended in June to reclaim its status as the company’s largest revenue source and, at long last, break that 5 percent share barrier, according to IDC,” Brent Schlender reports for Fortune.
“Indeed, Apple’s U.S. Mac sales have grown at triple the rate of the rest of the PC industry since last fall, propelling it into third place in the U.S., behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard,” Schlender reports.
“…If you parse the market, you realize that Apple’s seemingly minuscule share is much, much greater in the slices it has targeted,” Schlender reports. “Apple doesn’t even pretend to compete for the corporate servers that are technically considered PCs because of their internal design; those account for about a fifth of the market. Nor has it ever targeted big business, other than publishers and creative departments.”
“The bulk of Macs are purchased by consumers and students who make their own buying decisions rather than take what an employer issues. Apple has a 15 percent market share of PCs sold at retail and online, according to NPD,” Schlender reports.
“Apple’s software could turn the Mac into a phenomenon again, perhaps even in corporations. Apple is arguably the best software company on the planet, regularly releasing basic operating system software and application programs that reveal the greater potential of computers as devices for communication, creativity and entertainment,” Schlender reports. “Apple is growing faster than its competitors because it improves its hardware and software more often than anyone else. It is broadening what we think of as a consumer-oriented PC and thus helping its market grow. That’s a good long-term investment story. And, oh, by the way, Apple also makes some pretty slick music players and cell phones.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
Yeah Fortune hit it right on the nose. Mac is the product, iPhone is the byproduct. I hope the Kool Aid drinkers can finally get that straight.
This article was also one of the few to hit on something I saw… well… decades ago. I was checking into a hotel and saw that they were using PCs as terminals. And then it dawned on me… those boxes are adding to PC marketshare.
But when we hear marketshare it matters because it affects the size of the market for 3rd party products, and thus the availability of 3rd party products (otherwise who would care if ANYONE else used their favorite computer).
“Personal computer” market sounds like the market for machines being used by individuals (including at work and in the college lab) for knowledge based work and fun. But a lot of PCs are used as servers and terminals. A meaningful definition of the market for “personal computers” would not include them.
If I’m a manufacturer, all sales are good. But as a user, marketshare only matters to the extent it affects 3rd party support. (Which also means marketshare in one’s field is more important than overall.)
If XServer suddenly took over the world, it would be great for Apple. But the increased “marketshare” would be of little value to us laptop/desktop users.
@Cubert:
I couldn’t agree with you more. When I’m searching for a quick solution some problem I’m having on a Windows machine, I am usually very, very afraid to install 80% of the software I come across. I generally have no idea what’s gonna come onto the computer with it. Plus, It’s often kind of poorly designed.
On OS X, however, there is certainly software out there that didn’t get the job done, but I come across so much really useful freeware and shareware that I can almost always get the computer to do what I need it to do. Plus, I don’t have to be afraid about malware (which is the reason I’m afraid to download Windows apps). Sure, OS X is not impervious, but an educated user, who knows not to click everything they see until they actually no what it is, generally has a lot less to worry about.
Mac OS X opens up a world of quality software with a lot less risk.
MW: Ready….to go shopping?
Zune Tang is definitely a bought-and-paid-for-M$-shill whose sole purpose in life is to hang out here and spew the Windoze party line at every opportunity. I guarantee you he’s not hanging out at the other PC makers’ forums reporting back to them on what’s being said at the Mac forums.
And let’s be thankful it’s only him and not 20 just like him.
That being said, Apple is certainly enjoying a renaissance (who ever thought we’d see the day?), led by the Mac being purchased by people using their own free will, not by a bunch of corporations having one waiting for you on your cubicle desk on your first day of work.
Consumers and students; what a concept.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”cool smile” style=”border:0;” />
@Zune Tang.
Zune Tang gets it. Having other people do the thinking for you is a great way to leave democracy and freedom, something that the Zune sphincters love to do.
Your leader for Iraq. Your blood on the sand.™
Its really funny to read Zune Tang’s diatribe.
Coincidentally, I was able to spend some time last weekend with my nephew, who’s an IT installer for Comcast.
He was saying how he didn’t like Mac’s because they were a hassle to configure … the only thing that you could do from the command line was to “ping”, etc.
I expressed surprise.
Then I pulled out my Powerbook, opened the System Preferences & Network pane and started showing him all of the DHCP, BOOTP, etc. Options.
I then opened Network Utility and showed him a few more things than just Ping.
More of the story comes out…seems that the real complaint is because the Mac is firewalled by default, they can’t just grab control go through all the settings. Of course, this is a Catch-22 arguement, because if the PC can be controlled over the wire, isn’t that essentially only possible if the IP settings *are* correct?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
The bottom line is that there’s a lot of Windows people who are afraid to change from the Evil that they know, because they somehow believe that it could get even worse. With Vista, I can easily see how that is possible, but the irony is that these same consumers don’t bat an eyelash at “taking the risk” of switching automobile brands after getting a lemon.
-hh