“There is much exuberance in the Mac orbit this week over news from market research and analysis firm Gartner Group that Apple has edged past Taiwan-based Acer into third-place spot for computer sales volume in the U.S. with 8.5 percent of the domestic personal computer market, although it still ranks sixth globally. However, domestically, according to Gartner estimates, Apple’s sales now surpass all competitors save for for Dell and HP, showing amazing sales growth of 38.1 percent year-over-year, and that’s with fourth-place Acer having gobbled up Gateway and Packard Bell whose sales are included in the Acer total. Gartner’ market research competitor IDC in its report this week pegged Apple’s gains somewhat lower, at a 7.8 percent share, up from 6.2 percent a year earlier, and with slightly slower growth (31.7%), locked in a virtual dead heat with Acer (Apple trailing by 2,000 units), but the trend is the same with Apple shipping an estimated 2.37 million Macs worldwide in the quarter,” Charles W. Moore writes for Applelinks.
“Apple at either 8.5 percent or 7.8 percent of the [U.S] personal computer market (up from 6.4 or 6.2 percent in the quarter a year earlier) is a figure unheard of by a generation or two of Mac-Users,” Moore writes. “[In 1995] Apple’s share was just under five percent of the PC market, which is arguably a more realistic figure to use as a comparative base-line for today’s figures… [Given] that the prices Apple charged for its hardware systems in the mid-90s had essentially ceded the mass market for the PC as a commodity to DOS/Windows by default… it was a pretty impressive showing that the Mac had as much as five percent.”
“Just how remarkable that figure was slowly morphed into focus… with the Mac’s market share nadir being plumbed in ’95 – ’96 at just above two percent in those dark days when virtually all news mention of Apple was preceded by the descriptor ‘beleaguered,’ and there was much serious and not-unwarranted speculation that the company might be taken over or even fold and disappear as so many of its competitors of the early-’80s era had,” Moore writes.
Moore writes, “But then in 1997, Steve Jobs returned… [and today] Apple’s prospects are looking brighter than they have in nearly two decades, and 10 percent or more market share now seems easily in reach, probably before this decade is out.”
Full article here.
“10 percent or more market share now seems easily in reach, probably before this decade is out.” – to put it mildly…
…unless Zune Tang starts buying a lot more PC’s…
Apple would have to do something pretty stupid to mess this up!
One day Apple may have 25% of the market or more … and still have reasonable profit margins to maintain R&D;. Cream rises to the top. Other companies may sell more units but if they make $1 profit per machine who cares.
Slightly off-topic:
What will become of the Mac mini?
Last Release: August 07, 2007
Days Since Update: 347 (Avg = 188)
“Remarkable” ??? Are you guys kidding us ??? As far as I’m concerned it’s still stuck at 3 point something worlwide.
Not bad in the US I should say, but hey c’mon, we’re living in a globalized economy so the way this is presented sucks.
Ampar,
I sure hope it gets an upgrade. I need to get one to replace an old eMac. I’m just waiting on new graphics.
@Ampar
Mini Tower!!!
oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please,
I’m sorry. You’ll have to choose between copy and paste on the iPhone or a Mac mini in a tower configuration.
Apple has to crank up the quality control it it wants to continue this growth. We’ve seen in the Leopard upgrade and some of the software updates some bugs which, 2-5 years ago, would not have been there.
I think Apple is going through some growing pains, and must learn to balance this growth with keeping a tightly run ship so as not to become bloated in management like Microsoft. The last thing Apple need are various development teams having a “failure to communicate” regarding features, etc.
Acer or any manufacturer will do what they always do to remain competitive: they can’t add value, so they lower prices.
Apple adds value and prices stay basically the same, year-over-year. This is not a zero-sum game for them.
Go apple!
@Mac+
“”Remarkable” ??? Are you guys kidding us ??? As far as I’m concerned it’s still stuck at 3 point something worlwide.
Not bad in the US I should say, but hey c’mon, we’re living in a globalized economy so the way this is presented sucks.”
The surest sign of a MS troll. Find some number or set of words and blow them all out of context. A sure sign of desperation.
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There are more cockroaches than pcs, Maybe you should be a matching set of cockroaches. LOL
Compare even to even. HP sales to Apple in US. Dell sales to Apple in US. OH, and compare profits. The other guys are trying to run themselves out of business. Apple is making more profit on less sales. That is a good thing.
Making 20 million computers and losing money on everyone is not the way to take over the world. ha ha ha.
One last ha ha. I wonder how much money HP and Dell make on MP3 players. Cell phones…. Music downloads…????????
Mac+ =MS troll. Just a thought.
en
===///===
The same old problems still plague Mac computers being accepted by the broad market.
1: Apple isn’t very enterprise friendly
2: Hardware doesn’t have enough configurably options. (for instance if you need 5000 computers with no wireless/firewire w/replaceable matte screens)
3: OS X works too well, IT wants machines that they can charge $65 a hour to fix.
4: No Mini-Tower, closed desktop models
5: No “low margin” computers for developing countries and markets.
and so on…
I’m predicting 10% US market share of sales in 9 months.
In those “dark days” of the mid-90s, we print designers using Quark and Photoshop could never have switched to another OS. The possibility of ditching the Mac wasn’t even on our radar – totally unthinkable – so the Mac had a loyal and captive market they could count on. The Mac Hard-Core! New Macs were stupidly expensive, but that’s what we wanted, and that’s what we needed. (We still do!)
@AMPAR
I’m guessing Wun Dum Gai really likes Copy and Paste?
Raving Machead is right.
With no mini tower and true business friendly CS Apple will forever be 10% or lower.
But: Apple never stands still…
I’ll take either at this point.
To Bluefin: As would Mania Dum Gai.
I am currently at the Netroots Nation conference in Austin Texas, where about half the attendees seem to have laptops, and of those, well over half seem to be some flavor of Mac (even seen a number of Macbook Airs)! Judging by the trend I’d say 10% market share is an extremely conservative estimate!
@ Raving MacHead
Nice sarcasm, If it wasn’t intended to be then those points are all irrational.
one thing is to get 10% of sales in a particular quarter, the other to have over 10% share of an installed base.
My trips through airports these days tells me that Apple has more than 10% of the installed base…
“10 percent or more market share now seems easily in reach, probably before this decade is out.”
Maybe 10% in the US. In the consumer market. For machines which cost more than $1000. With Apple just reaching above 3% worldwide for the first time for a very long time hitting 5% worldwide is still a faraway fanboy dream.
One against the nefarious homogeneous multifarious.