Oricchio’s theories:
1. The new Mac Book Pro [sic] also came out about the same time.
MacDailyNews Take: Correct (except for the product name).
2. Apple lowered the prices of their Macs (ding, ding, ding!)
MacDailyNews Take: They did?
3. Could it be that people thought they wanted an iPad, saw what it couldn’t do and just said, ‘What the hell, I’ll just buy a Mac’ instead? Could it be that as great as iPad’s sales were that a lot of people found it was a short enough walk to just spend the money and get an exponentially more powerful device?
MacDailyNews Take: Wrong. Sure some people might have gone iPad to Mac, but not enough to goose April Mac sales so dramatically. We’ll hazard a guess that, based on her explanation, Renee doesn’t have an iPad nor is it likely that she’s ever spend any time at all, certainly not more than 5 minutes, with an iPad. What’s more likely to have affected Mac sales is that people waited a bit on their Mac purchases to see what iPad could do before figuring out which Mac model would best complement their new iPads. We’re still working that one out ourselves.
4. A lot of people are upgrading their PC’s, after waiting three years for Windows 7. Perhaps, again, at that moment of truth when making the purchase that a significant number of people said, “What the hell, I’m buying a Mac after all.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hope springs eternal that computer buyers will finally wise up en masse.
Oricchio writes, “Bottomline [sic]: the Mac is doing well because it is a time-tested beloved product. We’re still slogging our way through this “jobless recovery.” People are starting to spend a little money again. But they are doing so much more cautiously and wisely. It makes sense to invest in a product you know and trust. I think that’s why Mac sales are up (and the price drop didn’t hurt, Cupertino!).”
MacDailyNews Take: Good enough “bottomline” theory, but what “price drop” is she talking about?
I’m with MDN on this one.
Mac sales are up because the word is out that Apple makes the best computers. Are they a little more expensive compared to the cheapest PCs? Yes, but they are not the same level of performance and quality. Not everyone will use an iPad all day long as a computer. We still need traditional notebook and desktop PCs. That’s why Mac is up. The iPad excitement gets people to also consider the Mac line.
Why do some bloggers feel the need to “pull stuff out of their asses” and pass it off as truth. (price drop?) credibility=zero.
“Good enough “bottomline” theory, but what “price drop” is she talking about?”
Sssshhh! Don’t tell ’em, if people think they’re on sale, they’ll buy more of them!
I think the more people go Mac, they tell their friend about the experience. At least that’s the case with me. I’ve converted at least four families
This article can’t be right.
I mean, all the Win-Bloggers are saying that Mac sales are up simply because of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field, and duped consumer morons, and people paying extra for the stylish Apple logo, and because of Apple’s vaguely hinted-at illegal and monopolistic activities that forces people to buy Apple computers, and because of Apple’s closed eco-system, and Apple’s hype machine, and it’s a rounding error, and, and, um, because people are buying computers that they don’t want to do real work with.
Yeah, those are the reasons Apple’s Mac sales are up. (Did I miss anything?)
And I know that’s true because the Win-Blogosphere said so!
Nyah!
the new 17″ macbook pro is $200 cheaper than before.
All the iPad publicity couldn’t hurt, though — it brings the curious into Apple’s stores, and some of them end up buying Macs (maybe along with an iPad or two).
Possible scenario for the price drop being mentioned:
step 1: she thought Macs were really, really expensive
step 2: she goes an checks the prices
step 3: they are way lower than she expected
step 4: there must have been a price drop, because her being wrong about Mac pricing all these years is not likely to be a thought entering her head…
just to clear things up…
you can thank microsoft for reminding people in their commercials that if you want a sexy and cool (but expensive) computer you buy an Apple. But if you want CHEAP, then you buy something else. Who wants a Porsche when you can have the pride of owning something CHEAP like a Yugo?
I’ve [sic] thinkin [sic] that mostly [sic] likely its [sic] due to the halo effect from thee [sic] 80 million iDevices [sic] sold.
overheard a couple of dads at the hockey rink last week talking about computers – one guy told the other not to buy a PC. said he just got a Mac about 3 months ago and would never buy another POS PC again! said his kid got a Mac about a year ago and convinced him to get one when his PC died. said it was the best move he ever made – a little more expensive, but worth every penny!
folks are listening to their kids and finally figuring out that Macs just work!
Sic sic sic
The real answer is that a Critical Mass level is being approached and it is going to hit the PC world like a ton of bricks.
Suddenly the sheep (80%) are all going to be buying Macs because “that’s what everyone else is doing”.
Apple is going to have a hard time keeping things in stock this fall and Christmas season.
Of course there was a price drop. Every time Apple offers a more powerful computer at a specified price point (the $999 Mac Book getting a 5% boost in processor power, for example), the price of the computer “drops”. It’s still $999, but you are getting 5% more, thus …
And, yeah, a lot of folks came in to buy an iPad, saw the Macs and decided to buy one while ordering a back-logged iPad. Makes sense.
The price argument is still with us? OK. Let’s say it again. The price of a low-end PC is well below that of a “low-end” Mac. That said, the “low-end” Mac will do more than a similarly-priced PC. Maybe stuff you need to do, maybe stuff you want to do, maybe stuff you want to try, maybe stuff you think you want to try. If “none of the above, maybe you can save money with the PC. Just remember the “PC Tax” imposed by A/V vendors and pimply-faced kids willing to clean up the mess the A/V apps miss.
Macs are 2X (pushing 3X) more expensive than PC’s. That’s because some PC’s are so bloody cheap. The price difference is more than $200 which is typically stated. I have seen W7 notebook and desktops (not netbooks) for $500. New! No matter how you look at it the math dont lie. MacBooks are 2X more expensive than PC’s even though the price difference is $500. Hey, $500 is a lot of money.
Maybe sales are up because there is a difference between an iPad and a computer and YOU NEED A COMPUTER TO INITIALIZE AN iPAD (this is brilliant). What better computer is there to initialize an iPad than a Mac.
And then there is Mobile Me. What better service is there to sync the two?
I have 4 devices and they are all sync’d. That’s impressive. Can PC’s do that? If this is becoming a mobile world then Apple is the right company at the right time. SJ is brilliant.
I’ve been a mac fanatic since 84. Just recently my brother-in-law told me about http://www.wwitv.com. I tried it on my Mac and it did not work. So when people say you can do more on a Mac I really doubt it. But I am still a mac fan boy even though my PC friends can do more.
BTW, why doesn’t wwitv.com work on a Mac?
This isn’t rocket science folks, Mac sales are up because Windows sucks.
Apple hasn’t made any dramatic changes to the platform, since switching to Intel and OS X just keeps getting better.
What has changed are peoples attitudes about a much-maligned company in Apple.
This firestorm of Apple gadget sales in the last ten-years has opened peoples’ eyes to the idea that there is a disconnect btwn the trash talk about Apple and epiphany customers experience when they actually hold and use an Apple product.
Hence, many people who are enjoying Apples igadgets make the leap and buy the Mac to extend the euphoria.
They’re probably asking themselves, if Apple computers are so bad, how come they never get sick, like my PC?
Why is it that my Windows 7 PC still suffers from some sort of immune deficiency?
computers are better than any Windows computers
That last sentence is residual crap left over from my editing process.
I believe Lange is onto something. When people actually begin shopping for new computers, are inclined to look over the Mac selection and realize the Mac pricing isn’t as outrageous as they expected.
Suddenly, they realize a Macintosh
is well within their reach and when they hear AV software is totally unnecessary that must make their hair stand on end.
Its happening. We’re having “official” discussions on ways to bring Macs into our work. And I work for a city government! iPhones, iPads and Macs are all part of our talks.
I have a 17″ MacBook Pro, and realized that I was going to be doing a lot of (heavy walking) traveling with it, so I thought I’d get something smaller to go with it. I waited for the iPad announcement and then realized it wouldn’t meet my needs, so I bought a MacBook Pro 13″.
Then when the iPad came out, I saw it and got an iPad 3G.
The MacBook Pro 13″ fulfills my every need.
The iPad 3G fulfills my every desire.
And yes, I’m keeping the 17″ MacBook Pro along with my iMac, and tower (and of course iPhones and iPods).
maclouie – The only reason it doesn’t work on a mac is probably because either the plugin needed is not installed or they are just too lazy to make it web standard compliant, which is the more likely cause.
Mac sale are up because they have freedom from porn. Which means Windoze computers have porn or may even have porn in the OS code. People believe this and flock to Apple as the logical choice.
maclouie – if it doesn’t work on a mac my general policy is to boycott their site or software. Eventually as Mac dominance increases they will either die or make it work simple as that.
Macs sell themselves. People tend to want a Mac once they’ve been exposed to one, seen someone using it, and gotten a chance to play around with it themselves. As more Macs are sold, more people actually get to see one “in the wild”, and buy one themselves. These new buyers then begin converting their friends and relatives, and the cycle continues.
As I’ve said before, I switched in 2001 because my friend was a fervent Mac user and loved his machine. I then switched my girlfriend (now my wife), my parents and my aunt. Meanwhile my friends switched three other friends. In my circle of acquaintances, it’s becoming harder to find the PC users.
——RM
I’ll tell you why Mac sales are up. My daughter broke the hinge on my Mac Book Pro and I had to replace an 18 month old laptop.