“Last quarter was a terrible for most personal computer makers,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “With sales down 8%-9% across the board, yearly PC shipments fell worldwide for the first time since the 2001 recession according to Gartner and IDC, which attributed the dismal results variously to the economic slowdown, a pause in advance of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8 and the fickleness of consumers who would rather spend their money these days on smartphones and tablets than on traditional PCs.”
“None of which explains why 44 of the 64 Apple (AAPL) analysts we polled in advance of Thursday’s earnings report believe that Mac sales actually grew in the quarter that ended Sept. 29 — both sequentially (i.e. from the previous quarter) and year over year,” P.E.D. reports. “That would mark the 26th straight quarter that the Mac’s growth has outpaced the rest of the industry.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Joe Architect” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Hmmmm. What’s that smell?
I love the smell of a burning OEM in the morning!
> None of which explains why 44 of the 64 Apple (AAPL) analysts… believe that Mac sales actually grew in the quarter that ended Sept. 29
No explanation??? Sometimes, analysts are actually right about something obvious. And the “explanation” is simple. Apple is using the (still) VERY large pool of existing Windows users (many still using XP on aging hardware) as a resource to grow its sales and market share. When they replace their old PC hardware, they are buying Macs instead of go with their iPhone, iPad, and iPod (which they already own and use).
And I think many of them will want nothing to do with Windows 8, since it looks more “foreign” to them, compared to Mac OS X Mountain Lion. This will make the SWITCH rate accelerate going forward.
The only thing now generating Windows PC sales is the infection rate with economically unremoveable viruses on existing Windows machines. “Circling the toilet bowl” would aptly describe the current Windows PC state of existence. And with each replacement iteration more and more of those replacements become OS X machines, their purchasers never to return to Windows. As an Apple shareholder, I like Ballmer’s strategy. I like it a lot.
Because Linux sure as hell won’t be getting them.
Simple in one word the “halo effect”. Once the people get use to their iphones and ipads and how well the work, they ask themselves this, if my iphone and ipad work for me as well as it does then maybe a macbook pro or mac air will work for me to, just a thought.
“None of which explains why 44 of the 64 Apple (AAPL) analysts… believe that Mac sales actually grew in the quarter that ended Sept. 29”
In other news, 44 out of 64 analysts believe that the sun will rise tomorrow in about 50% of the world. I wonder what the other 20 analysts are thinking?
“a pause in advance of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8”
The real pause will be the abysmal uptake of Windows 8.
I think you’re seeing several factors here:
1) People in the know waiting for Windows 8 to be pre-installed so they don’t have to screw around with installing it later;
2) People dropping Windows PCs for Macs;
3) People dropping Windows netbooks for iPads;
4) People hearing about how screwed up Windows 8 is and being frozen in indecision.
If Apple don’t start paying attention to their COMPUTERS it’s going to bite them on the ass real quick. Even though Microsuck’s Tablet will sell like herpies.
It’s time for some serious consolidation in the PC world. The would no longer needs 30+ different windows box makers. It needs a few (1-3) name brands and a few (1-3) knock offs. Think, appliances like washers and dryers.