NPD: Mac sales up 60% in February

44 Comments

“Macintosh sales were up sharply in February, according to a brief report on the latest NPD data posted Monday at flyonthewall.com (registration required),” Philip Elmer-DeWitt blogs for Fortune.

“The report shows growth in Mac unit sales up 60 percent from 2007 and growth in dollar terms up 66 percent,” Elmer-DeWitt reports.

Full article here.

44 Comments

  10. “Macbook Air sales appear to be additive to total sales, rather than
    replacing Macbook Pro sales,” he said. “We believe a new set of
    corporate customers make up a meaningful portion of MacBook Air
    buyers.”

    Suck on that, MAC dorks.

    Reply

  11. Mac rumors us saying Apple achieved 14 percent market share.

    http://www.macrumors.com/2008/03/17/apples-pc-marketshare-up-to-14-percent-for-february-2008/

    According to preliminary data from NPD, Apple reportedly achieved 14 percent of the U.S. retail PC market share in February 2008, up from 9% just a year ago. This represents 60 percent unit growth and 67 percent revenue growth year-over-year.

    Mac Notebook sales were up 64% year-over-year and Mac Desktops up 55% year-over-year, with strong sales of the MacBook Air this February.

    Reply

  12. While I am sucking on that…

    I’ve always talked about the Tipping Point® and it’s been talked about here and there, but it seems to me that in some ways, it really has arrived. Apple is now mainstream. No longer beleaguered. No longer isolated, or the “cute” little-company-that-could. Apple makes tech people want. It’s still in the beginnings of growth, though which is really remarkable to me. Apple has the potential to be enormous and really usher in a new era in personal tech use.

    I welcome this. And all I have to say to ChrissyOne is: Please miss, may I have some more?

    Reply

  13. Tipping point indeed. OS X is just about the only easy unix like OS out there (sorry Ubuntu but you still need work) and is superior to Windows in every way. Once you go Mac you’re not going back unless you don’t have a choice.

    It pains me to say this, but the reason for all this growth is partly the switch to Intel from PPC (I kinda hate x86 and loved PPC).

    So now what apple needs is a laptop under 1000 USD (doesn’t have to be uber powerful just affordable enough for people who can’t afford even a macbook) and a 10 to 12 inch laptop for the Asian markets…and that’s it. The future is laptops. We’re going to see laptops become more common than desktop units in the future. People want to be mobile. This is good news for apple because they make the best laptops out there in my opinion.

    Reply

  21. @ Beryllium

    NPD is:
    “The NPD Group, founded in 1967, is the leading global provider of consumer and retail market research information for a wide range of industries. We provide critical consumer behavior and point-of-sale (POS) information and industry expertise across more industries than any other market research company.”

    from their promotional material.

    Reply

  23. Suck on this, MAC dorks: You are still a smug and pretentious ultra minority pushing 3% market share at most. Enjoy it while you can. Windows Vista is just getting started. And don’t talk to me about all these college students and their new MACs. They’re kids who don’t know better.

    So while you’re overspending on those flimsy toy MAC Book Air thingys my company went out and purchased 300 Dell Laptops with Windows Vista and Microsoft Office. Our customers are gonna love those PowerPoint presentations from the sales and marketing guys. They always do.

    Your potential. Our passion.™

    Reply

  27. “Macbook Air sales appear to be additive to total sales, rather than
    replacing Macbook Pro sales,” he said. “We believe a new set of
    corporate customers make up a meaningful portion of MacBook Air
    buyers.”

    and yet we STILL have people, Apple fans, posting here, who still don’t get it. the Air is selling well, right now, at this moment.

    people, it is, even as i type, the top seller on the online store. it is a HUGE hit.

    wake up people.

    Reply

  28. Beryllium, sometimes letters as names are just names and not acronyms or abbreviations. NPD Group is the name of the company. They used to refer to the National Product Diary, but all references to that seem to have been removed from their site, and their is no trademark on file for that.

    Regarding the tipping point…I’ve always felt that there were 2 points. The first was when developers would develop for the Mac as much as Windows…maybe not as much software on the Mac (lack of crapware), but buying a Mac wouldn’t limit you in any way in terms of software choice….I think we’re there. For me, buying a Windows based PC now would mean that I couldn’t run much of the software I want to.

    The second tipping point is where starting a new job would mean IT would ask you if you wanted PC or Mac. I’m starting to see that happen more and more too.

    Reply

  29. The tipping point has happened already, it was iPhone, and it was last fall. Not the announcement (they can’t pull it off), not its arrival (watch this bomb) but several months in when it was clear it didn’t suck The at&t;deal solidified Apple’s image as respectable, big, corporate, American. So when the Air breezed in it turned out to be a blast.

    Just a few pieces in the puzzle, there are many more. Steve Jobs being a big wheel at Disney boosts mindshare, those who recall may take note that Steve’s reason for canning the Newton was that one company couldn’t do two operating systems.

    NPD = No, Please, Don’t – judging by some of the above comments that will be well understood.

    Reply

  37. I don’t understand why people don’t get the MacBook Air. I have a PowerBook G4 12 inch. I last used the optical drive (combo) to upgrade to Leopard. Before that, I can’t even remember. If I need to move files and can’t do so wirelessly, I use a USB drive. Why carry a bunch of CDs with me?

    My iTunes and iPhoto libraries are on my 20″ iMac. I copy some photos to my PowerBook, but I keep music on my iPod or iPhone. I don’t need 5,000+ songs on my PowerBook – it’s my WORK laptop. And for work, I don’t need all the bells and whistles.

    I do, however, need a laptop that is extremely portable, like, say a MacBook Air.

    Reply

  39. Gee! Doesn’t anyone think an eight-core MacPro might have had something to do with all of this. Just visit a MacPro forum, and you can see people have been waiting for this machine, . . . sometimes for more than a year. And the cheapest model goes for around $2,300.

    Reply

  40. Gee! Doesn’t anyone think an eight-core MacPro might have had something to do with all of this. Just visit a MacPro forum, and you can see people have been waiting for this machine, . . . sometimes for more than a year. And the cheapest model goes for around $2,300.

    ——————————-

    Well, considering that the chart that accompanies this article (click the link,) shows that 64% of February’s sales were notebooks. No, I don’t think this increase was largely due to the Mac Pro.

    Reply

  41. I think people are missing one of the biggest reason: the fall of the dollar. I know dozens of people who flew from Europe to USA to as much as possible including a Mac. I think many of the Macs sold in the US went to foreigners.

    Reply

  43. I’m thinking about organizing a super-short and super-cheap Mac Packet Tour.
    London (Paris, or Berlin) to New York, with an eight-hour stay in New York before the return flight leaves (ca. four hours in the Apple Store).
    No hotel costs (you can snooze in the plane).
    No restaurant costs if you bring sandwiches with you.
    You’re back in Europe within a day.
    Hardly any time for jet-lag to set in.
    If you do it on a Saturday, you can relax at home on the Sunday, and show off your new MacBook Air to your colleagues on the Monday.
    [Reminder: ALL Apple products cost about 50% more in Europe than in the U.S..]

    Reply

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