“The bad news for personal computer makers is that consumers aren’t in much of a mood to buy new PCs. The good news is that demand hasn’t completely fallen off a cliff. A survey of U.S. households this month by IBD’s polling partner, TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, finds that 21% of respondents are likely to buy a new PC within the next six months. A year ago, the figure was 24%,” Patrick Seitz reports for Investor’s Business Daily. “The TechnoMetrica reports are based on monthly random phone surveys of at least 900 U.S. adults.”
“The IBD/TIPP Home Computer Purchase Outlook Index fell 12% from the previous month to 16.9 in December, its lowest level in seven months; the 12-month average for the index is 17.7. The 16.9 reading is down 19% from 20.9 a year ago. Index scores range from zero to 100, with higher numbers corresponding to greater intent to buy new PCs,” Seitz reports. “Purchase intent for new home PCs was actually lower in May at 14.9 and March at 14.3, which was the lowest reading since TechnoMetrica began polling consumers on PC buying plans in April 2002.”
“Among likely PC buyers, Dell remains the preferred vendor. The Round Rock, Texas, company is tops for desktops, with 47% of likely buyers, and notebooks, with 35% of likely buyers. Overall, Dell is the PC vendor of choice, with 38% of likely buyers, down from 41% a year ago,” Seitz reports.
MacDailyNews Take: In related news, 38% of the general population can’t name the author of Huckleberry Finn, provide the square root of 9, or name even one planet in our solar system (including Earth), but they can tell you more than you’d ever want to know about Britney’s latest video. These sheepeople will have to repeatedly see and hear about others using Macs for the fact to finally penetrate their nearly impenetrable denseness that Dell’s or anybody else’s Windows PCs are crap. They. Just. Don’t. Get. It. Nor do they read much, if at all. Some can barely speak. Constant drool is not uncommon. Mouth-breathing is a given. On the bright side, the tipping point seems to finally be approaching:
Seitz reports, “Apple is No. 2 in popularity with 17% of likely buyers, up from 13% last year. For notebook computers, Apple’s share of likely buyers is 22%, up from 15% a year ago. Hewlett-Packard slipped behind Apple to third place from second a year ago, with 13% of likely buyers, down from 18% last year.”
Full article here.
Huberty-go to hell!
MW: moral, as in Wall Streets compass is broken.
Wow. Apple has more likely buyers than HP and is now number 2? That’s impressive. It wasn’t that many years ago that Apple didn’t make the top 5 list.
I think the word is “sheeple”, not “sheepeople”. “Sheepeople” are women aren’t they?
Hey, I have mac.. but I don’t know who wrote Huckleberry Finn…
can some one tell me so I can get out of the sheepeople community?
And no, I don’t know any song from from Britney or her latest news, but with that body, who cares???
@Viktor,
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> ) and Hucklebery Finn was a character written by Mark Twain, a very famous Americal, (aka Samuel Clemens (sp)) who also inspired the famous saying as steamboats would move up the river they would check the depth and say “By the mark….. twain” as the depth made two fathoms….. deep enough for the shallow river boats.
Actually I do know a song from Britney (Womanizer…. ironic isn’t it.
“A steamboat pilot needed a vast knowledge of the ever-changing river to be able to stop at any of the hundreds of ports and wood-lots along the river banks. Twain meticulously studied 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of the Mississippi for more than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859. “
More junk that you really wanted to know, right?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Just a thought.
en
“Apple’s share of likely buyers is 22%, up from 15% a year ago.”
IS ANYONE SEEING THE 46.7% INCREASE FROM A YEAR AGO? Think tsunami “Halo” or “Switch” in play now!
MDN, your take is perfect. I have read that, now that gas prices have fallen, some people are actually buying large gas-guzzling monstrosities again. Reality? What’s that? That’s the monster that is eventually going to rise up and bite you in the ass, stupid! Then the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth will begin.
Wasn’t Mark Twain the guy who invented the theory of relativity and fried chicken?
Tell me, Berrylium . . .
Who is doing more damage to the environment, the economy, the solar system, the universe, etc.:
The person who owns a “monstrosity” gas-guzzler who drives it three times a week to the store (round trip 6.3 miles, weekly use approximately 22 miles), or the regional widget salesman who drives his compact car all day, five days a week, on his rounds? Weekly use: approximately 550 miles.
The first person consumes approximately 2 gallons a week in gas. The second, approximately 20. So who’s the “monster” here?
It ain’t the “guzzler,” sir or madam: It’s the number of miles driven therein. Get it? Limit the number of miles someone can drive per time period if you truly want to save the whales. Limit their fuel allotment, and the eagles will fly proud and free again.
Damn, but sometimes . . . .
I think the word is: Affordable
The reason the vast majority of people are buying Dell is because the computers are cheap, and not everyone can do the math and have it work out where owning a computer – no matter the brand or quality – is worth $600 without a monitor.
They may want a Mac, but mommy’s tight budget says Windows.
@Randian : I decree that you shall not drive at all.
Dude, who is going to enforce your driving limit rules? And how are you going to do it?
You must love big government controlling your life.
Randian, next stop fat people – let’s have the government ration food.
How about electricity rationing, too?
……and the guy who has the Hummer, and never drives it anywhere, is an angel compared to the guy in the mini car who drives it to the moon and back every day, twice, and runs over little old ladies and has a boot full of bombs to leave in public places… who is evil personified….
No distorting mirror from a crazy-house can disguise the fact that big petrol-cars are on the way out, thank heavens.
So Randian, all gas-guzzler owners can only drive their vehicle 22 miles a week? What defines a gas-guzzler? Anything under 30 mpg? 40 mpg?
Randian, if you are going to have the Govt. limit a person’s driving miles, why wouldn’t the Govt. just go one step further and dictate the type of vehicle one could own and how many vehicles a person could own?
Once you go down the slippery slope of taking away personal choice and freedoms and letting the Govt. dictate your life…bad news.
You want to save the world?
Pull the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, put them in every equatorial country in the world and force the local despot/dictator/presidenté to replant the lost rain forests.
Let the plants clean up the carbon dioxide problem. The plants fell behind in their work when the rain forests were decimated during the last 30 years.
Climate change has come about through the decimation of the earth’s rain forests. This has had a very significant effect on the amount of carbon dioxide and, more importantly, water vapor there is in the atmosphere at any given location on the planet. The percentage of water vapor and, to a lesser extent, carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere controls the world wide weather patterns.
@ElderNorm
Thanks !!!
Randian made a valid point, folks. It isn’t just the car, it also matters how it is used. I have a minivan that gets ~17 mpg in town and ~25 on the road (most efficient that I could find). But it typically carries six people, so on a per person-mile/gallon basis I am getting 100-150 pmpg while two people in a Prius are getting <100 pmpg.
Plus, when you dump an old car to get a new, more efficient model, the equation should include the energy cost associated with the manufacture of the new car (raw materials, transportation, etc.). Driving an older, bigger car is not necessarily a great evil.
@Randian
So you are saying all these SUVs are driven less than 1200 miles annually?
They are driven more than 22 miles per week at the dealer! Are you kidding?
And how do you limit the number of miles a person drives without massive urban reconstruction? I suppose everyone can stay home all day and carpool with as many neighbors as can fit in a “monstrosity” gas-guzzler to Costco twice a week.
Some of the discussion here is a bit absurd. A Hummer owner driving 22 miles per week, compared to a Mini owner driving 550 miles. What is the point of the comparison?
I don’t own a car. I hadn’t had one in over ten years. Therefore, I think nobody should own a car (or drive one at all, if they did own it). Some people can use public transportation (or ride bikes) to where they live and work. Others can’t. Some work from home, others commute to an office. Some can carpool, others’ neighbours work in various parts of town. Comparing one person with the next is pointless.
The 22-mile-per-week gas guzzler drives about 1,200 miler per year. He’d save about 25 gallons per year if he bougt a normal car. The guy with a Mini who drives 550 miles to work can’t really save much more, unless he buys an electric, plug-in car (supposedly to come from Chevy in a few years or so).
The point here is that there are less environmentally damaging alternatives to the gas guzzlers. There are absolutely no reasons why anyone would need a Hummer (other than compensating for a small something or other). Hummer is clearly a product designed to pander to the male ego. Much like the BMW (or Ferrari, or any other luxury car), except these other cars tend to actually be quite environmentally friendly, whereas Hummer is just a monstrosity, as are other of the kind (Suburban, Expedition, Land Cruiser — obviously, not just American-made, etc).
If the oil industry loby wasn’t so incredibly powerful (they ARE the richest industry in the world, by a very large margin), we would have had plug-in electric cars 20 years ago, with batteries that could be charged in 4 minutes, with 500-mile range and with speeds of 100+ miles. But big oil, married to Detroit, helped preserve status quo and systematically kill any effort to research and develop battery technology for efficient energy storage.
And today, we are officially bailing Detroit out yet again (why couldn’t big Oil bail them out? Their profits this year were many times greater than the bailout figure discussed in the US government)…
Interesting how ChangeWave came up with quite different figures:
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/19348/
@Predrag:
If the guy in the Mini really has to drive 550 miles a week, maybe the gov’t. should…make him move closer to work? (Once you start letting the government mandate a person’s max. gas mileage and brand of car…why not?)
Just to jump in on the discussion about carbon emissions, the global meat industry is responsible for more CO2 emissions than the road transport and airline sector combined! And it’s not all cow f**ts either; it’s the production of the feed etc… as well. I drive a big *ss car and have a clean conscience, but am very careful about what I eat and other factors in my lifestyle. Organically grown meat is essentially half the emissions. It’s about your total lifestyle. It’s ridiculous to just point ut the auto becouse peole think as long as you have an “green” car you can do whatever else you want.
Just my opinion…