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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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According to market research firm NPD's 2009 Household Penetration Study, approximately 12% of U.S. computer-owning households have an Apple computer, up from 9% in last year's study. But of these Mac-owning households, nearly 85% of them also own at least one Windows PC.
Multiple computer ownership is a common thread in Apple computer households, with 66 percent of households owning three or more computers, compared to just 29 percent of Windows PC households. Apple owning households are decidedly more mobile as well, with 72 percent of them owning a notebook, whereas only 50 percent of households that have a Windows PC own a notebook.
The study also notes that Apple households tend to be more affluent than average computer households, and Apple owners also tend to own more consumer electronics devices (and twice as many of them) than the average computer-owning household.


094931-npd_household_penetration_survey.jpg


Source: The NPD Group/2009 Household Penetration Study
The study notes that because these characteristics place Apple owners at the forefront of consumer electronics, their purchasing decisions can be valuable to the industry as a measure of upcoming trends and popular products.

Article Link: NPD: U.S. Mac Ownership Grows, But Nearly 85% of Mac Households Also Own Windows PCs
 

BongoBanger

macrumors 68000
Feb 5, 2008
1,920
0
Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.
 

Richard1028

macrumors 68000
Jan 8, 2009
1,577
0
Apple households tend to be more affluent than average computer households,
Well, duh. They needed a survey to figure this out? Maybe the should survey Porsche and Mercedes owners. I wonder if there's some kind of correlation to income?
 

dmmcintyre3

macrumors 68020
Mar 4, 2007
2,131
3
Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.
I do too, but it's a hackintosh:D. The rest of the house is PC though

I have half of what is included in that graph in my house/cars. (DSLR, iPod, GPS)

EDIT: My brother has this $99 1 year old flash video camera, so I have 4/6 of the things on there.
 

uberamd

macrumors 68030
May 26, 2009
2,785
2
Minnesota
I have a PC in my college apartment running Internet Connection Sharing (basically acting as a router) because my college campus doesn't allow the use of switches/routers. This lets me get past the 1 connection per student limit and have my XBox, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, etc all hooked up and pipe the data through the Windows PC. Does that count?
 

DipDog3

macrumors 65816
Sep 20, 2002
1,191
812
All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!
 

dmmcintyre3

macrumors 68020
Mar 4, 2007
2,131
3
All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!

No, not 100% of them do. My Mac will not run windows at all unless you call 150 MHz equivalent "usable". You are forgetting that all Macs pre 2006 were PowerPC not intel
 

FakeWozniak

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2007
428
26
Macintosh is a Personal Computer!

Most of the modern ones also run windows, so does this study mean that 85% of the homes with Macintosh are the Intel based ones?

These lines are so fuzzy anymore....
 

mrochester

macrumors 601
Feb 8, 2009
4,506
2,420
Maybe the Macs just aren't capable of satisfying all of their owners needs/wants? I'd need a decently specced Windows PC along side a Mac for gaming.
 

JeffTL

macrumors 6502a
Dec 18, 2003
733
0
In other news, people sometimes keep their old computers that are still good for something (Web terminal, other family members, server, Windows gaming, and so on), even if they now have a better one for their primary box...
 

chaynes

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2009
16
0
USA
Not surprising...

I don't throw away junk either, garage full of it, takes a while to realize I don't need it anymore. Besides, households with several family members probably have the typical intimidated PC users. One time reports like this don't say much, doesn't reflect change over time. If that's not true then we'll see a follow-up in 6 months of this same survey to see if the 85% has fallen... right? :)
 

BornAgainMac

macrumors 604
Feb 4, 2004
7,275
5,212
Florida Resident
Agree

It makes sense. PC's are so cheap and you don't have to waste your Mac resources and let your Mac be a Mac. I also agree that PC users tend not be interested in electronics as much as a Mac user. They lead a simple life with basic needs like lighting and running water and Windows XP.
 

alm99

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2008
319
11
I own both, 2 windows laptops and a Mac mini. I would own only Macs if I could afford it. The cost to replace the windows machines will all Apple products is cost prohibitive to do it all at once, so I am slowly getting rid of all PCs in the home. Next purchase will be a macbook some time next year.
 

slu

macrumors 68000
Sep 15, 2004
1,636
107
Buffalo
I only have Apple computers, but one of them has Windows on it. So I wonder if I would count in the 85%?

The smug will be high in this thread.:D
 

theanimala

macrumors 6502
Mar 2, 2007
440
228
Makes sense. I have the iMac as the family computer, and 2 Window's machines as my office machines. 2 other Window's laptops are old hand me downs that float around the house for internet use. Most of the people I know with Mac's a running a similar setup, albeit with less extra machines laying around.
 

n8mac

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2006
431
48
Ohio
All Macs also run Windows. So shouldn't it be 100% of Mac owners also own a Windows PC?

Never believe these stats!

No, Macs have never come bundled with Windows. You gotta buy it separately. A computer without Windows is not a Windows PC.

I have never bought Windows or a Windows PC in my life and plan on keeping it that way :)
 

supmango

macrumors 6502
Feb 17, 2008
413
0
Or you could take it to mean that of the most affluent purchasers the majority have both Macs and PCs since the survey claims that about 9 out of 10 of Mac owners also have a PC.

That statement in the survey only proves to me that Microsoft somehow financially contributes to those who did the survey. 0 out of 10 people I know keep their PC around after switching to a Mac. And with Windows 7 being only marginally better than Vista (in my experience), I don't see that changing any time soon.
 

slapppy

macrumors 65816
Mar 20, 2008
1,227
42
I also own a Windows PC/DELL. I use it to keep my coffee mug warm during the day. :p
 

jpyc7

macrumors 6502
Mar 8, 2009
276
0
Denver, CO
. . . One time reports like this don't say much, doesn't reflect change over time. If that's not true then we'll see a follow-up in 6 months of this same survey to see if the 85% has fallen... right? :)

The article did note that the survey was done last year also, so it isn't a one-time survey. I also anticipate the survey will be done again in a year, not six months.
 

apull

macrumors member
Mar 15, 2008
48
0
chicago
I have a PC in my college apartment running Internet Connection Sharing (basically acting as a router) because my college campus doesn't allow the use of switches/routers. This lets me get past the 1 connection per student limit and have my XBox, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, etc all hooked up and pipe the data through the Windows PC. Does that count?

Why not just clone your pc's MAC address on a router and be done with it?


Someday when you're paying your utilities bill, the $6-13/month you're paying to leave that PC on all day will be much better spent elsewhere. If you ARE paying your electric bill, measure your PC's power consumption and do the math.
 
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