“Apple outpaced the rest of the U.S. PC market, which also grew an impressive 24 percent year-over-year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by IDC. Apple’s sales were enough to make it the fifth-largest domestic PC maker, behind HP, Dell, Acer and Toshiba, respectively,” AppleInsider reports.
MacDailyNews Note: Keep in mind that a meaningful part of the growth attributed to the PC market as a whole was, of course, Apple’s.
AppleInsider continues, “In all, Apple sold an estimated 5.6 million computers in the U.S. in 2009, good for an overall 8 percent share. That’s up from 5.2 million units and a 7.9 percent share saw in 2008, earning Apple 8.2 percent year over year growth. Apple was the fourth-largest U.S. PC maker in all of 2009.”
MacDailyNews Note: These are estimated numbers. Apple is scheduled to release official sales figures on January 25, 2010.
AppleInsider continues, “While Apple is growing, sales show that Apple’s slice of the market is not. That’s attributed to the booming low-end netbook market. ‘Low-cost notebooks and mini-notebooks were the biggest contributors to the successful fourth quarter,’ said David Daoud, research manager with IDC’s U.S. Quarterly PC tracker.”
Full article, including global sales figures, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Those who define “successful” based upon increasing low-, no-, and negative-margin unit sales must be allergic to money. Without meaningful – or any – positive margins, you simply can’t make it up in volume. Just ask Mikey. Apple is the world’s most successful personal computer maker. Simply look at the Mac-maker’s margins and profits.
Here’s what we wrote last April in response to the cavalcade of fools calling for Apple to produce a low-cost “netbook” to “compete” with all of the other low-cost “netbook” peddlers out there:
Little Mikey had a lemonade stand. Okay, it was a kiosk. He sold 100 (8 oz.) cups yesterday for 10-cents each. He spent 11-cents per cup for artificial lemon flavoring, corn syrup, and the paper cups. He used tap water because it was free. Threw it all together in a big plastic pail. He’s out a buck for all of his trouble. Boy, that was a lot of work for less than nothing!
Around the block, little Steve runs a lemonade stand, too. It’s all blond wood and very clean. He sold 50 (24 oz.) glasses yesterday for 50-cents each. He spent 20-cents per glass on fresh-squeezed lemons, pure cane sugar, spring water (mixed with the utmost care), and some very nice glassware (he buys in bulk and gets a good price). He took home $15 yesterday. He’s currently building his newest stand right where Mikey’s used to be.
Macintosh. You get what you pay for (and part of what you’re paying for is a healthy Apple, able to conduct proper R&D in good times and bad, that produces innovative, high-quality personal computers that satisfy customers like no other).
