“Apple’s Mac sales in the U.S. last quarter were up between 7% and 12%, according to estimates published yesterday by research firms Gartner and IDC,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.
“Both companies said Apple will post third-quarter numbers significantly above the industry average, but disagreed on the Mac sales gains over the same period a year ago,” Keizer reports. “Gartner estimated that Apple sold 1.57 million Macs in the U.S. for the quarter ending Sept. 30, an increase of 6.8% over 2008. IDC, on the other hand, put Mac sales at 1.64 million, or 11.8% above last year. In both cases, Apple’s performance was higher than the industry average in the U.S., which IDC estimated was 2.5% and Gartner had at 3.9%.”
“Apple will not release its official sales figures until Monday,” Keizer reports. “‘Everyone is guessing at Apple’s numbers,’ said Bob O’Donnell, IDC’s vice president of clients and displays. ‘Here’s the interesting thing. Last month we called Apple [sales] low, and we got it wrong. I take full blame for that,’ O’Donnell admitted. ‘I thought, ‘How can they possibly maintain share?’ But they defy logic.'”
“In July, IDC estimated that Apple sold just 1.21 million Macs in the U.S. during the second quarter, which would have put the company down 12.4% year-to-year. A week later, however, Apple announced it had sold 1.64 million Macs in the Americas and at retail — the vast bulk of the latter also in U.S. stores — or nearly 2% more than the year before. Globally, Apple boosted Mac sales in the second quarter by 4%, to 2.6 million machines,” Keizer reports. “‘Their sales just seem to defy all logic,’ O’Donnell repeated. ‘There are obviously a certain number of people buying Macs even in the face of a recession.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s the new logic: Smart people are tired of wasting their money on crap.
Why do these people play a guessing game when the real numbers will be released on Monday. Is it to justify their existence?
Go, Go Apple!
“‘Their sales just seem to defy all logic,’ O’Donnell repeated.”
IF . . . IF . . . IF one is Microsloth-centric in his/her thinking they do! Quite obviously, Mr. O’Donnell is not conversant in the slightest with the Mac, its OS, its culture, its features, its reliability, or anything else pertaining thereto.
This guy is, without a doubt, a PC troll who wouldn’t know quality from quantity if it bit him square on his keester.
Begone with him and his ill-informed opinion!
Who knows, even Windows 7, which is not that bad, will not be enough to reverse this trend. One thing is obvious, Apple is a hit with the younger crowed, so that is a way to really instil a trend.
Randian, well said.
It seems perfectly logical to me…
@silverhawk, investments are based on predictions, the more accurate your prediction the better you can forecast. Have you never herd of the word futures?
‘There are obviously a certain number of people buying Macs even in the face of a recession.’ – Of course. When faced with economic downturns, we will continue to buy things we need but will look for greater quality and performance. Quite simply: Macs deliver. The cost saving alone, in time and exasperation over buying a Microsoft-based machine, makes the purchase of a Mac both rewarding and responsible.
There are obviously a certain number of people buying Macs…
Yes. Whether that number is 1 or whether it’s 1,000,000 it is a certain number. Congratulations you passed algebra.
Actually, it is all ABOUT logic.
Stupid stupid title….
Do anal- ysts use logic?
Oh, it’s probably due to another rounding error-
@ HMCIV
Nope – algebra is abstraction. He passed arithmetic. But algebra seems to have blown him away…
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@ pastrychef, indeed. In my mind it’s the Windows sales that continue to defy logic.
OS X = 3(Win7)
At least
How many put off purchasing new hardware until it was released with Snow Leopard pre-installed? That type of information wouldn’t show up on a Windows-centric analyst’s radar.
The problem is the logic base this guy is using. At one time, it was illogical to believe the Earth was round, or that it orbited the Sun. Obviously, the fallacy of those examples have been long since been exposed; the vast majority of people no longer put any credence in them. There is still a lot of nonsense that otherwise well-intentioned people accept as truth in the modern age. The one that Microsoft will be forever dominant is one of them. It takes time to overturn such cherished but inane, archaic belief systems. In the meantime, those clinging to such superstitions will increasingly find themselves unable to understand how the world is changing around them.
All of these divergent ESTIMATES is why MDN should start posting the FINAL market share numbers after Apple releases its sales numbers for the quarter. Will you, MDN? Pretty please, with sugar on top?
I wonder if any of you understand what was being said: “Their sales just seem to defy all logic”. In a market where products are seen as equals, it is illogical for a more expensive brand to dominate. In a market where one brand is seen as better than the rest, it is logical for that brand to prosper. Unless it costs more than “the rest”. The it is logical that it will prosper only in “good times”, but not so much when money is tight.
A good portion of the market sees the Mac as the Better Choice, but more expensive. People CAN put off the purchase of a new Mac because, if nothing else, the computer is likely to have a longer usable life than a PC. This, of course, ignores the switchers – those coming from dying PCs – who need to buy “NOW”. We are still seeing those switchers who were buying top-end PCs switching to some sort of Mac.
Seeing all the factors through the eyes of a Consumer, rather than the eyes of a guy with the full force of an IT Dept behind him, this becomes much less illogical. Possibly even the ONLY choice.
If you assume all computers are basically the same then it defies logic for Apple to increase sales when all others are decreasing. Bad assumption!
I say it makes total sense logically. Folks have less money to spend. They look at the products, the see the ads, they talk to their friends and coworkers, and it makes logical sense to choose the Mac. On the surface the Mac may appear more expensive, but if you look at it logically and realistically, the Mac is actually less expensive in the long term. First and foremost, no need to pay extra after purchase for technical support. No need to pay extra after purchase for anti virus/spyware/malware protection/subscriptions. No need to pay extra for memory or speakers or a sound card or a larger monitor upgrade. No need to pay extra for media and productivity software (iWork and iLife). No need to pay some schmuck kid to come over and help set up the new machine. No need to spend hours upon hours with tech support to find the correct driver for your printer or scanner.
Plug it in, and it just works.
So, if you have a brain capable of digesting some or most of that, the windoze PC that is equal or less expensive is logically inferior and logically the lesser choice.
Heck, I bet the used Mac market is doing better than the used PC market too… If I only had $300 to spend, I would get on craigslist and buy a nice used Mac before I spent $300 on a windoze PC.
Defy all logic?
Try people USING LOGIC to buy their next computer, and the result is people being sick and tired of Windows viruses, spyware, malware, and security software, Microsoft’s OS’s constantly requiring crazy new HW specs to even run their stuff, so they find it a better move to just go Mac.
Gee, what a concept.
Perhaps IDC should state that Windows sales continuing to increase, even by 2.5% defies all logic when considering all the crap it’s users put up with on a constant basis.
@Steve516
It ain’t the kid who’s the schmuck. The real schmuck is the guy who relies on his next-door neighbor’s kid to get his PC up and running in the first place.
The used Mac market has always been very good. Macs hold their much of their value, much longer than PCs.
I usually buy a new Mac every 2 years or so. I skip generations A and C, but buy B and D… (NEVER EVER A!). I usually get half what I paid when selling used. It’s always a win-win.
I knew from the moment Mac sales started to take off years ago that the rate would accelerate. Almost all Mac users evangelize. You can’t help it — the machine is so awesome, you’re actually excited about using a computer again, you want to tell everyone.
Take my example. At the beginning of the century, there was only one Mac user in my circle of friends and relatives (two if you count his wife). He switched me, and three other friends over the course of a few years. I switched my wife, my aunt, and my parents. In about 10 years, one Mac user resulted in 8 more Mac users.
This type of phenominon doesn’t happen with Windows, because Windows PCs are, by-and-large, seen as appliances, not something you stay excited about more than a week after bringing it home.
So yeah, no duh, Mac sales are increasing. They’re probably going to keep increasing for some time.
——RM