“Apple Inc.’s share of the laptop market is growing — the company now sells more than one in every six laptops purchased in the U.S., a research firm said today,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld. “‘Apple’s definitely up,’ said Stephen Baker, an analyst at Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group Inc. ‘Their sales are continuing to grow faster than the rest of the marketplace.'”
“NPD, which collects its data primarily from retail sources and excludes most online and all direct sales, said Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops accounted for 17.6% of June’s unit sales, an uptick of more than three percentage points from May’s 14.3%,” Keizer reports.
“Baker attributed the jump in market share to refreshes that both laptop lines recently received,” Keizer reports. “The market share increase pushed Apple past Gateway Inc. into third place on NPD’s list of laptop sales leaders, behind Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Corp. Research firm IDC also has Apple in the third spot; data it released last month put Apple’s share of U.S. sales at 5.6%, far behind leaders HP (28.4%) and Dell (23.6%) but tied with Gateway.”
Keizer reports, “The next move by Apple, said Baker, will likely not be in its computer business — it refreshed the iMac family earlier this month — but on the iPod side. ‘I’ll stay firmly in the path of conventional wisdom and say that it’s iPods next,’ Baker said. ‘They haven’t been refreshed in almost a year.'”
Full article, including speculation about next-gen iPods, nanos, and shuffles, here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, due to differing methodology between firms and limited measurements, the exact market share percentage isn’t nearly as important as the trend. The trend shown by NPD’s measures (and IDC’s, Gartner’s, etc.) for Apple is positive.
Yes, keep it up Apple. Though I do think that they could use a $600 range laptop.
I’m seeing MacBooks and MB Pro laptops everywhere – and with trends for folks going for portables increasingly over desktop machines, this is starting to landslide.
When everybody is special, no one is. But we all enjoy computing more!
Apple produce a $600 laptop? keep your head in the clouds, Apple doesn’t do anything cheap. For $600 from Apple what do you get? A lousy cell phone or a toy computer and a hundred bucks towards essentials like keyboard, mouse and screen.
Take Rob Enderle’s advice, get an Acer Ferrari.
“When everybody is special, no one is.”
I don’t think people would buy Macs just to be different, especially if they sucked. It is, and always has been about the experience (OSX).
$600 range laptops are all pieces of absolute junk. Apple doesn’t play in the low end junk market.
RC
$600 range laptops are all pieces of absolute junk. Apple doesn’t play in the low end junk market.
Blah Blah Blah…. Wooooo Hooooo Steve!!!!!
Oh BTW, I just loaded OSX 86 on a friend’s Gateway MX6214 and it runs great for what he wants it for (basic websurfing and word processing). So please stop with the nonsense that Apple can’t make a decent low end machine. They simply don’t want to.
Regardless of your fanboy nonsense, every computer without an Apple Logo is not “junk”…
Woooooo Hooooooo Steve!!!!!!
I’m seeing MacBook Pros all over the place in philly
What I find amazing about this is that their laptop share includes all business sales. While Apple does sell to businesses, their laptop share of large corporations probably pales in comparison to Dell and Lenovo. That means that people who have a choice in what Laptop to buy probably pick Apple far more than the 17.6% share would show.
Apple COULD have a much larger desktop share as well, if they listened to that market. What the market values most is mid-range, headless desktops. That Apple just refuses to sell that computer can only be due to a nearly pathological stubborness by his royal Steveness. Apple could make plenty of money from a respectable $1K headless tower.
‘Nuff said.
Here’s an even cheaper laptop:
“Asustek to offer laptops for under $300”
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/08/28/tech-asustek-laptops.html
Anyone who buys a computer to be “special” is an a**.
The mac user stereotype is fitting
Apple does not compete in the low-margin space, for any product. Unlike Microsoft’s strategy of losing billions on a product line until it somehow “eventually” makes a profit, Apple’s products must have high profit margin from Day One. Therefore, Apple will never have a low-end bare-bones laptop.
With all your “Woooooo Hooooooo”-ing for Steve recently, I’m starting to think that you’re undergoing some personal revelations about yourself. It’s OK, we’ll still accept you.
And soon, 2 of evry 5 phones will be an apple iphone.
“I just loaded OSX 86 on a friend’s Gateway MX6214 and it runs great”
An excellent example that the desirability of the Mac OS is growing. Those who try it, even illegally, will eventually come to realize it is much better than they thought, can easily replace Windows for the bulk of what they do, and therefore may seriously consider a “real” Mac in the future.
MDN word: George, as in curious about OSX
Actually if you visit this site and compare specs of PC’s and Mac’s…
http://www.systemshootouts.org/
Apple doesn’t do too badly on a apples to apples comparison.
It’s that Apple includes a lot of features standard and doesn’t sell stripped boxes.
The fact that you Gates homers come out to MacDailyNews….keep track of what’s posted here and then take the time to post negative posts about Apple tells me that Steve outta be happy…….Apple is making a mark so big that even the dwindling Windows lovers have to take notice.
You won’t see me wasting my time on Windows sites…..talkin about how crappy Vista is…..could give a rats hind end……
One in five, one in six… whatever.
MDN math.
What the market values most is mid-range, headless desktops.
Which market is that? Apple’s computers are great for their core markets, home and high end professional like graphics and scientific. Home users like iMacs because they take up little room and are quiet and MacBooks because they do similar but are portable. High end professionals primarily want computers that can handle complex tasks and don’t malfunction unexpectedly, ie running OS X.
The market you describe is not Apple’s market and it is a declining market. If Apple went after it they’d have to cope with all the rest of the baggage that proliferates there like MCSEs and buyers that need to provide competitive quotes and like a few freebies to sweeten the deal.
I always laugh when I see people at different stores looking at different pc boxes….. They actually believe that each brand offers something different.
That’s pure comedy, and I know comedy.
can easily replace Windows for the bulk of what they do, and therefore may seriously consider a “real” Mac in the future.
I have several “real” Macs (iBook G4s, Intel Mini, and a Powermac G4 Digital Audio)…..
It’s difficult to convince the masses to buy a “real” Mac when a “real” Mac is nothing more than an overpriced version of what everyone else is selling with a TPM chip added to allow it to run Apple’s Hardware Limited OS.
There is little difference between a Dell, Gateway, Acer, or Apple Laptop except the pretty case, a TPM chip, and a few hundred bucks…
Oh yes, I know, the “quallity” of the parts are much higher in your “BMW” Macs….
Why don’t you fanboy site 1 (JUST ONE) Example of exactly which components are higher quality than the rest of the industry is using????
I know, I know, their better because “Steve said so”.. Wooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!!
There are plenty of $600 range laptops any you can even run Linux or Windows on them.
Enjoy.
Shoeman, where/when did Steve Jobs say that the internal components – chips, graphics, fans, hard drives, whatever – are better? I’m not saying he didn’t, I’m just wondering when or where he said it.
The only insight I have on the component issue is that Macs supposedly have a lower rate of failure than the norm in the PC industry.
You seem knowledgable; care to educate us?
as soon as you said TPM chip I knew it was you.
“Why don’t you fanboy site 1 (JUST ONE) Example of exactly which components are higher quality than the rest of the industry is using????”
None of us Mac “fanboys” owe you any explanation of any sort.