“It’s very easy to take a look at Apple’s stellar fourth quarter and conclude that the long-awaited iPod ‘halo effect’ is in full swing and move onto something more pressing, like handicapping the World Series,” Tom Krazit reports for CNET.
“The iPod often gets the credit for increased Mac shipments, described as the “halo effect” over past years. The thinking is that iPod customers, having enjoyed their iPod experience and having seen Apple in a new light, might be more inclined to pick up a Mac while shopping for a new iPod case and realizing their old PC is woefully out of date,” Krazit reports.
“But despite the recent results, it’s still just not that simple. Apple said during its earnings conference call that half of the customers who bought Macs at its retail store last quarter were new Mac owners. Viewed against total Mac shipments of 2.2 million during the quarter, that’s actually not all that many brand-new Mac users,” Krazit reports.
“Apple sold 473,000 Macs at its retail stores. That means we’re talking about something like 200,000 people last quarter who were new to the Mac–assuming some number of people bought multiple Macs to send the twins off to college–and the rest are Mac veterans upgrading to a new Macbook or one of the new iMacs,” Krazit reports. “Obvious as it may seem, it’s really hard to quantify the halo effect. Believe me, I’ve just spent the last several hours trying.”
“It would be silly to say the iPod has had no effect on the way Apple is viewed by the public. Anyway you slice it, the iPod contributed to a more positive impression of the company among those who hadn’t always supported Apple as a matter of principle,” Krazit reports. “But I’m not convinced that you can draw a direct line between iPods and Macs… I think more people are buying Macs because there is no longer a penalty for switching to a Mac. After all, you can run Windows on a Mac, open and edit Word documents in Mac OS, and you probably spend most of your time on one Web page or another that doesn’t care what operating system is in control.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jollywog” for the heads up.]
It’s not really that difficult. Either Apple’s iPod “halo effect” has just begun and is not yet in full effect or it’s weaker than some might have expected. That’s okay – there are better ways to sell a Mac. The iPod’s main benefit with regard to a “halo effect” is to assure people that Apple is financially healthy and will be here for the long run (in case 30+ years in business isn’t enough assurance).
Also, as OS X-based multi-touch iPods and iPhones get people used to that UI, when Apple brings out their multi-touch Mac tablet and introduces multi-touch elements into the Mac, then you’ll start to see a real “halo effect.” (If Apple isn’t working on a device or a whole line of devices that bridge between the iPhone and MacBook that utilize the multi-touch UI, then they should be. We think they are working on it, as it’s far too obvious for them not to be doing so.)
The general public is beyond brainwashed that Windows is necessary. Windows is only necessary in cases where you want – or are forced – to use some particular application because some developer (usually Microsoft) has decided not to support/not fully support the Mac. In all other cases, if the applications exist for Mac, then Apple Mac is the better choice for personal computer users: it’s more secure, more stable, and more fun than Windows. If Windows did not have “lock-in” via IT departments deploying Microsoft stuff (that just happens to force the use of Windows, those clever Redmond devils) and if a few other developers (Autodesk with AutoCAD and game developers, anyone?) made Mac versions, then Windows simply has no reason to exist besides providing the ultimate platform for Antivirus, Anti-spyware, and anti-this/anti-that peddlers and driving people into various states of maddening frustration.
Windows has been, from its inception, and remains today, a badly-executed fake Mac designed to run on commodity hardware because Macs used to be too expensive for the average Joe. This is no longer the case. Macs are price competitive and offer an OS and Mac-only applications that are without peer.
Windows’ time has passed. Most people just haven’t figured it out, yet. If you want proof, just walk into any Best Buy and ask people why they’re plunking down their credit cards for truly horrid pieces of junk Windows PCs when OS-unlimited and vastly superior Macs are sitting right there being ignored by them. They’ll almost always tell you they “need Windows.”
Apple needs to do a much better job informing the public the fact that Macs can run Windows natively and/or via fast virtualization and get on with the process of embracing Windows in order to ultimately extinguish it. Pound the message repeatedly, Apple, and you will sell more Macs than you can imagine! “Macs run Windows, too, and you get two computers for the price of one,” is a hugely easier sell than banging your head against the wall for years (as Apple used to do and sometimes still does) trying to explain to people that they don’t need Windows. The brainwashing by Microsoft, analysts, and the media is so complete that average consumers will not even listen.
By embracing the brainwashing and using it to their advantage, Apple can sell many more Macs. After all, people who try both Macs and WIndows PCs overwhelmingly choose Macs. It’s the people who’ve never really used a Mac that repeatedly run to Best Buy every other year for their Windows PC punch in the face.
Um, DUH!
Some people are just a little slow to recognize the obvious.
6 years ago today even Mac users were lambasting the iPod keynote calling it a ho-hum product, not groundbreaking, doomed to failure.
I don’t think there is an iPod halo effect either. I think there is a definite Apple Retail Store effect. Proof? Look at the marketshare for Macs in the USofA vs. the RoW. iPods are in the RoW, but Apple Retail Stores are not.
Of course, one shouldn’t underestimate the mediocrity (or worse) of Vista.
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The revolution had to have started somewhere…
We finally got an Apple employee at the local Best Buy.
At least one person in the store now has a clue about Mac vs. PC
It seems BB justs wants the $330 post purchase fee for cleaning all the stuffing of the PC hard drive, installing security, and if you can believe it…setting up printer files to work with their new PC.
They don’t sell whats best for the customer, they just sell what’s best for the store.
I do congratulate Apple on their strategy to have an employee in the store.
“…repeatedly run to Best Buy every other year for their Windows PC punch in the face.”
Or, even more hilariously, they go to Best Buy once or twice a year to have their PC “cleaned out”. It’s just unbelievable what people will put up with for Winblows – like a race horse with blinders on.
Maybe a bit better than MS’s expectations of Bungie’s Halo effect.
” they go to Best Buy once or twice a year to have their PC ‘cleaned out’.”
Just one more reason to practice safe computing. Those ports aren’t meant for your sensitive parts.
I don’t think there’s an iPod halo effect. After all, an iPod is pretty simple.
However, I *do* believe there is an iPhone halo effect and, perhaps, an ‘iPod Touch’ halo effect – when consumers see a decent user interface it will open their eyes.
This is really the Vista halo effect. Vista has done more for Apple than all the iPods put together.
Quite a lot of people have told me they were conflicted about buying a new computer, because they’ve heard so much bad stuff about Vista (all of which is true) but they didn’t want to be stuck with XP. I told them that Microsoft will probably make a come-back in 2010, so in the meantime they should get a Mac. The rationale is that by the time they’re ready to replace the computer, Microsoft will be ready for them. Sneaky me; they will never switch back. Then they go to the Apple Store, which unlike other computer retailers doesn’t them feel like lost little lambs/
I gave away my old iMac to a friend, who had bought an iPhone. After using the iMac for a while and after visiting the Apple Store to resolve an iPhone problem, he said, “Thank you for introducing me to the future.”
Vista is the best advertisement for the Mac. Now if we could get the more rabid Apple fanboys to shut up, Apple’s sales will increase even more.
” It’s just unbelievable what people will put up with for Winblows – like a race horse with blinders on.”
I think one factor here is the security people get from not having to be vilified by their friends/neighbors for getting one of those ‘weird Mac computers”. There is definitely something to be said for people going with what they believe is safe and what “everyone else is doing”.
The good news is, the iPod helps alleviate this effect by at least having one Apple branded product in the house.
Harvey: ” . . . so in the meantime they should get a Mac. The rationale is that by the time they’re ready to replace the computer, Microsoft will be ready for them. Sneaky me; they will never switch back.”
I salute you. That’s freakin’ brilliant!
: They don’t sell whats best for the customer, they just sell what’s best for the store. . . and so it is !
“”But despite the recent results, it’s still just not that simple. Apple said during its earnings conference call that half of the customers who bought Macs at its retail store last quarter were new Mac owners. Viewed against total Mac shipments of 2.2 million during the quarter, that’s actually not all that many brand-new Mac users,” Krazit reports.”””
Did I miss something here? I listened to the conference call, but I never heard “Half the Mac purchases from retail stores,” I heard “Half of all Mac purchases” were from customers new to Mac..
That would mean about 1.1 million Macs were sold to people new to the platform, not 200,0000 as Krazit reports.
Let’s not forget some potentially big announcements on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008.
I wonder who will give the keynote address?
i have been using macs since 1984 so if i buy an ipod, then i guess that means there is a mac halo effect.
Halo effect? The truth is a few snobs are buying game-challenged MACs in spite of the I-Pod which can’t play WMA files and can’t take advantage of Zune Marketplace. You can’t spend your Zune points at the I-Tunes store either.
Think different, MAC sheep: Zune + xBox + Vista. You don’t know what you’re missing.
Your potential. Our passion.™
200,000 new to mac (CNET) vs 1.1million (Tre)? Truth is likely somewhere in between. CNET estimate presumes that all new-to-mac buyers go to retail stores, which is clearly nonsense. Tre, I recall Apple stating for several quarters in a row that 50% of macs sold at retail stores are new-to-mac, so I think that is a good starting point. And I suspect that newbies may prefer that in-person approach more than mac-vets. So let’s say that the rate of newbies purchasing outside of Apple’s retail system is less than 50% but more than 0%. Since we’re all guessing, I’ll round off and say 50% at retail (500K * 50% = 250K) and 25% elsewhere (1700K * 25% = 425K), giving us around 675K newbies this quarter. That would be about 2.5million new Mac users in a year — very nice!
@Zune Tang
A few words come to mind, old chap:
TIRED. BORING. STALE. THREADBARE. SHOPWORN. TRITE. PASSE. BANAL.
You really are a thesaurus’s nightmare. Time for a new act?
Well before the asteroid/comet hit in the Yucatan, the dinosaurs were ALREADY extinct; they just didn’t know it yet. Adapt or die.
M$ fans?!/users/sufferers, don’t yet know that Windoze is played out, but it is. The switchers are astute enough to recognize and adapt, give ’em props.
For the fashionistas out there, do you want genuine designer or cheap knock-off? Which one is gonna get you the ooo’s and ahhs? The iPhone or Winblows Mobile? A Mac or a PC?
Somebody above said it already: the so-called “iPod halo effect” is a combination of the iPod and the Apple Retail Stores. Where do most people new to Apple go to get their iPods? Why, the Apple Store, of course!
As all of us know who’ve been in one, you walk in there and the joint is packed with people, plus the walls are lined with what? Computers! Cool ones! The person says, “I didn’t know Apple made computers!” Tag, you’re it, sucker. Next!
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
@Tre
I was thinking the same thing. The only reason Apple might say 50% of retail Mac sales go to new buyers is because those are the only people they’ve asked. It’s probably safe to assume that if around half of all Macs sold at Apple retail go to new Mac owners, then probably around half of all Macs sold go to new Mac owners. Maybe a little more, or a little less, because obviously there may be other factors at play, but I wouldn’t expect the overall average to deviate more than about 5% in either direction.
I for one would like to welcome the approx. 1Million+ new users to the Mac platform!
@Andy, Posner,
Yes, it would have to be more than just retail stores because Mac shipments have more than doubled over the past few years and that can only mean one thing.. The Mac user base is growing.
Someone oughta email this guy and let him know that not all Mac users buy from the Apple store since he’s “spent the last few hours trying to quantify the halo effect”
Been a Mac user since my IIc, but, perfect, embarrassing example of why PCs still exist: bought a new Sony AVCHD similar to the one Steve-O demonstrated using iMovie 08. I have a PowerBook (iMovie 08) does not work with it. You can guess what happened: I shot 3+ hours of HD video and it was not recognized by my machine. Sony did not supply any Mac software. We had to install on my wife’s soon-to-be-junked XP box and *sigh* it was able to import the video. Hopefully Leopard will include the necessary drivers so I don’t have to plunk down for FC Pro. Nice demo Steve.
I think it has more to do with the “Hello” effect.
Once you use a Mac, for whatever reason, you are sold.
Everyone who buys a computer has a name and address. When a person buys a Mac, Apple can easily determine if that person is a new customer. Apple sells 100% of all Macs, so any new customer who buys a Mac is also new to the platform.
If Apple says half the people who bought a Mac are new to the platform, it’s true.
I believe there is a halo effect, although don’t know how large it is. I say this because I am proof. Three and a half years ago I took my tax refund and bought an ipod and a toshiba laptop. My brother has always been a big computer guy so I asked his advice when I was trying to decide what to buy. He said to me, “you should buy a Mac, it’s better for what you use it for”. I dismissed it with no thought whatsoever. After seeing how beautifully the ipod worked, and how itunes worked, I started to realize that Apple was something I should pay more attention to. About a year ago, I decided that it was starting to be time for something new, and I never even considered anything but a macbook. I waited a while hoping that leopard would come out last spring, but when they pushed it back, I went ahead and picked one up. Also got the phone on day one, and I expect an ipod touch to join the family before too much longer. Point is, the ipod was what REALLY introduced me to Apple. Sure, I had known about them for years, but never gave it much thought. I was never a computer guy growing up, never thought I had much need for one until the internet started taking off. So for people like me, I believe the ipod halo effect DOES exist. Although I have to say, I also believe the Apple retail stores are a huge factor in spreading the word. Anytime I go to my local store, it’s the busiest, happiest store in the mall.