After a long period of relative silence concerning the Mac, this week was full of news. Apple announced a special event next week to give us a peek behind the curtain on Mac OS X 10.7 (presumably called “Lion”). Furthermore, people who keep track of statistics like how many computers are out there are reporting that the Mac has now jumped to over 10% market share.
I have always felt that the market share statistics underreport Apple’s actual market penetration. Big companies and enterprise purchasers (who buy computers by the truckload), almost never purchase Apple products. As a result, the total market share is always skewed against Apple. For a better idea of Apple’s market penetration, walk in to your local Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee and look around. In Orange County, California, usually about half of the computers are Macs.
My point is, that while Apple has been pre-occupied with its mobile market share land grab over the past few years, that is okay. Mac users have been quietly using a very stable platform and getting work done. Although my appreciation for the iPad seems to only increase with time, I still get a lot of work done on my Mac. While Apple’s focus may be coming back to the Mac, for most users, we never left.
Totally agree. At my university in London, all the public computers owned by the university are running Windows 7, but take a look at the students working on laptops and at least a third are using Macs. Take a peek into the postgraduate and staff offices, where they get a choice of computer, and the percentage is a lot higher. Fair few Linux users too.
Totally agree. At my university in London, all the public computers owned by the university are running Windows 7, but take a look at the students working on laptops and at least a third are using Macs. Take a peek into the postgraduate and staff offices, where they get a choice of computer, and the percentage is a lot higher. Fair few Linux users too.
Totally agree. At my university in London, all the public computers owned by the university are running Windows 7, but take a look at the students working on laptops and at least a third are using Macs. Take a peek into the postgraduate and staff offices, where they get a choice of computer, and the percentage is a lot higher. Fair few Linux users too.
Totally agree. At my university in London, all the public computers owned by the university are running Windows 7, but take a look at the students working on laptops and at least a third are using Macs. Take a peek into the postgraduate and staff offices, where they get a choice of computer, and the percentage is a lot higher. Fair few Linux users too.
Totally agree. At my university in London, all the public computers owned by the university are running Windows 7, but take a look at the students working on laptops and at least a third are using Macs. Take a peek into the postgraduate and staff offices, where they get a choice of computer, and the percentage is a lot higher. Fair few Linux users too.
It's true. Every time I walk into a cafe, at least 50% of the computers are macs.
Obviously the company now takes pride in its handheld devices but its focus will always be in improving its macs.
It's true. Every time I walk into a cafe, at least 50% of the computers are macs.
Obviously the company now takes pride in its handheld devices but its focus will always be in improving its macs.
It's true. Every time I walk into a cafe, at least 50% of the computers are macs.
Obviously the company now takes pride in its handheld devices but its focus will always be in improving its macs.
It's true. Every time I walk into a cafe, at least 50% of the computers are macs.
Obviously the company now takes pride in its handheld devices but its focus will always be in improving its macs.
It's true. Every time I walk into a cafe, at least 50% of the computers are macs.
Obviously the company now takes pride in its handheld devices but its focus will always be in improving its macs.
There are plenty of Apple products on TV and in movies too.
I purchased my first Mac two weeks ago and now feel some buyers remorse because new models appear to be imminent. But not enough to return my computer and wait to see what happens. I might sell to someone in my family and friends to make them a new Mac user, then upgrade. But only if they announce something spectacular in the 13" segment.
Agree that the fact that the Windows machines dominate the business segment skews the statistics (and why does the industry not report separate numbers for business and personal as the margins are very different).
A lot of businesses lease computers on 2 or 3 year leases (it is just not economical to keep a PC longer as the troubleshooting costs go way up after a couple of years). My guess is that most Macs are used for much longer than 2-3 years. In my household for example, we have three Macs that are older than three years. As a result, by looking at sales you overestimate the number of people that are using a particular platform. if the overall Apple market share is 10% for Mac, that probably means that the actual market share for consumers is somewhere in the 18% to 20% range as it is likely less than 5% for the business segment.
Agree that the fact that the Windows machines dominate the business segment skews the statistics (and why does the industry not report separate numbers for business and personal as the margins are very different).
A lot of businesses lease computers on 2 or 3 year leases (it is just not economical to keep a PC longer as the troubleshooting costs go way up after a couple of years). My guess is that most Macs are used for much longer than 2-3 years. In my household for example, we have three Macs that are older than three years. As a result, by looking at sales you overestimate the number of people that are using a particular platform. if the overall Apple market share is 10% for Mac, that probably means that the actual market share for consumers is somewhere in the 18% to 20% range as it is likely less than 5% for the business segment.
Agree that the fact that the Windows machines dominate the business segment skews the statistics (and why does the industry not report separate numbers for business and personal as the margins are very different).
A lot of businesses lease computers on 2 or 3 year leases (it is just not economical to keep a PC longer as the troubleshooting costs go way up after a couple of years). My guess is that most Macs are used for much longer than 2-3 years. In my household for example, we have three Macs that are older than three years. As a result, by looking at sales you overestimate the number of people that are using a particular platform. if the overall Apple market share is 10% for Mac, that probably means that the actual market share for consumers is somewhere in the 18% to 20% range as it is likely less than 5% for the business segment.
Agree that the fact that the Windows machines dominate the business segment skews the statistics (and why does the industry not report separate numbers for business and personal as the margins are very different).
A lot of businesses lease computers on 2 or 3 year leases (it is just not economical to keep a PC longer as the troubleshooting costs go way up after a couple of years). My guess is that most Macs are used for much longer than 2-3 years. In my household for example, we have three Macs that are older than three years. As a result, by looking at sales you overestimate the number of people that are using a particular platform. if the overall Apple market share is 10% for Mac, that probably means that the actual market share for consumers is somewhere in the 18% to 20% range as it is likely less than 5% for the business segment.
Agree that the fact that the Windows machines dominate the business segment skews the statistics (and why does the industry not report separate numbers for business and personal as the margins are very different).
A lot of businesses lease computers on 2 or 3 year leases (it is just not economical to keep a PC longer as the troubleshooting costs go way up after a couple of years). My guess is that most Macs are used for much longer than 2-3 years. In my household for example, we have three Macs that are older than three years. As a result, by looking at sales you overestimate the number of people that are using a particular platform. if the overall Apple market share is 10% for Mac, that probably means that the actual market share for consumers is somewhere in the 18% to 20% range as it is likely less than 5% for the business segment.
The Mac isn't going away simply because it's where you go to create. Apple knows this, although I do think we'll see a lot of influence of the i-lineups in coming Mac hardware and software.
The Mac isn't going away simply because it's where you go to create. Apple knows this, although I do think we'll see a lot of influence of the i-lineups in coming Mac hardware and software.
The Mac isn't going away simply because it's where you go to create. Apple knows this, although I do think we'll see a lot of influence of the i-lineups in coming Mac hardware and software.
The Mac isn't going away simply because it's where you go to create. Apple knows this, although I do think we'll see a lot of influence of the i-lineups in coming Mac hardware and software.
The Mac isn't going away simply because it's where you go to create. Apple knows this, although I do think we'll see a lot of influence of the i-lineups in coming Mac hardware and software.