Gartner: Apple's Q1 2007 Marketshare Up from 2006

[MacRumors]

MacDailyNews republishes numbers from a preliminary report by Gartner on 1st quarter 2007 PC marketshare results. The numbers reveal an 8.9% worldwide increase in PC shipments, and a 2.6% U.S. increase in PC shipments compared to the same period last year.

HP now commands the highest international marketshare with 17.6% of shipments worldwide while Dell remains #1 in the U.S. despite a 15.5% drop in shipments from the year-ago quarter.

Apple, however, has seen a 30% increase in shipments for the 1Q07 period compared to 1Q06 period and held a 5% U.S. marketshare for PC shipments in the 1st quarter of 2007. This marketshare number represents the percentage of Macs out of all PCs shipped in the U.S for Q107. Apple's marketshare numbers over the past few quarters have been fluctuating between 4.7-6.1% depending on the source of the data, but year-to-year marketshare growth provides a useful measure and indicates that Apple's sales growth outpaced the PC industry as a whole.

Last year's Q106, however, may have been artificially low for Apple as that was still in the midst of the Intel transition. Apple has also blamed a slow Intel-transition of professional applications such as Adobe's Creative Suite for slow Mac Pro sales. Now with Creative Suite 3 shipping, we would hope to see further growth in Apple's Mac sales, if this indeed has been a limiting factor.

[bigbossbmb]

interesting that it has held... but i would believe that people have held out for CS3 and other universal products before buying. the next few quarters will determine that.

[bigandy]

CS3's going to make them fly off the shelves, as is Leopard when it arrives in October.

I don't think any possible halo effect from the iPhone would be too detrimental either

[koobcamuk]

Get leopard out and then they'll sell more

[siurpeeman]

increased market share for apple is a great thing. but is this why we've been seeing so many "should i wait or buy" threads?

[synth3tik]

I have already seen a rise in people buying their Mac Pro (at least on MR). I think now with CS3 out and the 10.5 delay more people will decide now to be a good time to get their new Mac.

[NewSc2]

Apple needs to continually make strong products to grab any of that marketshare. The PC's around before iPods came out are still very capable today for what most people need them for (internet, music, etc.). The big spotlight on Apple, imo, has only come in the past year or two, with Intel chips.

Among my friends I'd say the figure with Macs is more like 20-25%, but most of my friends are pretty tech saavy and are early adopters of technology. Once people's computers from last year get outdated (3-4 years down the line?) and if Apple computers are still viewed as the "in" choice, then I think Apple's market share will hit the double digits, and maybe even the teens.

EDIT: And I really don't think CS3 will cause a mass migration to OSX. Perhaps on these boards and in professional circles, but seriously, how many % of people actually use Adobe CS to make a living?

[noservice2001]

is this supposed to be surprising?

[k2k koos]

This is good news.
Apple however must now do their best to keep this marketshare.
This means hiring new people, and intensify their marketing on non us markets. There are many parts of the world where Apple has no foothold whatsoever, or very limited.
But not only Apple needs to step up, it's the software companies everywhere that will have to follow along. Software they write has to be multiplatform, so that the excuse of "there is no software for it " goes away.(for many people this means games, and small utility programs for the everyday consumer i.E: world maps, garden and interior design (I don't mean the pro packages), educational software (for non us markets), etc, and all the cheap stuff that you can find in bookstores, supermarkets, gas stations, the so called "crapware", it is all needed to change the perception)
MY wife complaints there is nothing for the kids, she finds a fun looking title in a supermarket for our 3 and 5 year old, and on the side it says "PC CD rom".
My argument saying that this is not very good software, doesn't matter. It is the public perception, which in above case is illustrated in hard facts.
By the way, this is the UK situation, which is a country where Apple now has several stores, and an intensified marketing campaign. There are loads of countries where this is not (yet) the case.
Anyone else any thoughts on this?

[Frisco]

Originally Posted by k2k koos

This is good news.
Apple however must now do their best to keep this marketshare.
This means hiring new people, and intensify their marketing on non us markets. There are many parts of the world where Apple has no foothold whatsoever, or very limited.
But not only Apple needs to step up, it's the software companies everywhere that will have to follow along. Software they write has to be multiplatform, so that the excuse of "there is no software for it " goes away.(for many people this means games, and small utility programs for the everyday consumer i.E: world maps, garden and interior design (I don't mean the pro packages), educational software (for non us markets), etc, and all the cheap stuff that you can find in bookstores, supermarkets, gas stations, the so called "crapware", it is all needed to change the perception)
MY wife complaints there is nothing for the kids, she finds a fun looking title in a supermarket for our 3 and 5 year old, and on the side it says "PC CD rom".
My argument saying that this is not very good software, doesn't matter. It is the public perception, which in above case is illustrated in hard facts.
By the way, this is the UK situation, which is a country where Apple now has several stores, and an intensified marketing campaign. There are loads of countries where this is not (yet) the case.
Anyone else any thoughts on this?

Excellent post!

[wordmunger]

I'm sure someone's mentioned it before, but I just now realized why Apple made its Leopard delay so public: They want people to buy new macs now, now that CS3 is out. If people still thought Leopard was due in June, they might decide to wait until then to get a new Mac plus CS3, but this way, a lot of people will be tempted to get new computers right away.

[rezatayebi]

"should I wait or buy?"
this is the question. in the case of apple most of the people say I should buy and that`s why apple is sucssesful

[BornAgainMac]

I was expecting a bigger marketshare after seeing the title of this thread. Disappointing. But at the same time, Dell and HP aren't that great either. At least Apple has 99% of the Apple marketshare minus the hackers.

[psychofreak]

NeoOffice is great, but I think a lot of people will buy new machines when Mac:Office 08 comes out

[akadmon]

Slow Mac Pro sales? C'mon people, the Quad 2.66 is the best computer deal Apple has going. So whaddya waitin' fer -- head on to the Apple Store and bring one of those babies home!

[gkarris]

Apple switches to Intel = increased share

Dell = decreased share

HP = Overtakes Dell
(HP has "handsome new PC's" in glossy black - inspired by the black iPod - cool) Wrote Dell to "loose" the fake aluminum grey and go back to black...

Not at all surprising...

[BenRoethig]

Originally Posted by akadmon

Slow Mac Pro sales? C'mon people, the Quad 2.66 is the best computer deal Apple has going. So whaddya waitin' fer -- head on to the Apple Store and bring one of those babies home!

I would say the 3.0 8-core is the best "deal". It's not that much more expensive than quad 3.0 from Dell. That being said "deals" are relative to the user.

[twoodcc]

very good news......but the leopard delay isn't going to help though

[Konradx]

"Apple has also blamed a slow Intel-transition of professional applications such as Adobe's Creative Suite for slow Mac Pro sales"

You cant blame Adobe when they released their product before Apple has. If anything they themselves have slowed their sales by delaying Leopard. Either way they have been consistently increasing there sales+market share which is a good thing, and shows they marketing themselves in the right way.

[Pressure]

Originally Posted by k2k koos

This is good news.
Apple however must now do their best to keep this marketshare.
This means hiring new people, and intensify their marketing on non us markets. There are many parts of the world where Apple has no foothold whatsoever, or very limited.
But not only Apple needs to step up, it's the software companies everywhere that will have to follow along. Software they write has to be multiplatform, so that the excuse of "there is no software for it " goes away.(for many people this means games, and small utility programs for the everyday consumer i.E: world maps, garden and interior design (I don't mean the pro packages), educational software (for non us markets), etc, and all the cheap stuff that you can find in bookstores, supermarkets, gas stations, the so called "crapware", it is all needed to change the perception)
MY wife complaints there is nothing for the kids, she finds a fun looking title in a supermarket for our 3 and 5 year old, and on the side it says "PC CD rom".
My argument saying that this is not very good software, doesn't matter. It is the public perception, which in above case is illustrated in hard facts.
By the way, this is the UK situation, which is a country where Apple now has several stores, and an intensified marketing campaign. There are loads of countries where this is not (yet) the case.
Anyone else any thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by Frisco

Excellent post!

Which enforces the fact that Apple is not for children. Which is lucky because that tells us that their marketing efforts work.

Their target group is late teenagers, students, and professionals (and amateurs) alike.

[BenRoethig]

Originally Posted by gkarris

Apple switches to Intel = increased share

Dell = decreased share

HP = Overtakes Dell
(HP has "handsome new PC's" in glossy black - inspired by the black iPod - cool) Wrote Dell to "loose" the fake aluminum grey and go back to black...

Not at all surprising...

HP has the advantange of better notebooks and being in the retail channel as well.

[Evangelion]

Originally Posted by akadmon

Slow Mac Pro sales? C'mon people, the Quad 2.66 is the best computer deal Apple has going. So whaddya waitin' fer -- head on to the Apple Store and bring one of those babies home!

Market for close to $3000 computers is quite limited, no matter how you slice it. Even though MacPro might be a "good deal" when looking at what you get for your money, it's still way more than what people are willing to pay for a computer.

What if you could get a 512-CPU supercomputer with 1 terabyte of RAM and 1 petabyte of storage for $10.000, would there be loads of people buying that computer? No. The computer might be a good deal, but people wouldn't pay 10.000 for a computer

[rahrens]

Originally Posted by Pressure

Which enforces the fact that Apple is not for children. Which is lucky because that tells us that their marketing efforts work.

Their target group is late teenagers, students, and professionals (and amateurs) alike.

My 2 year old daughter some years ago learned how to use computers on a Mac. She knew what her program looked like on the floppy and how to insert the floppy into the drive and turn the machine on. She could then play with the game, and also learned how to end the program and turn the unit off.

And Macs aren't for kids? I like to think (like all parents) that my kids are smart, but even I know she's not THAT much smarter than the average...

[akadmon]

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

I would say the 3.0 8-core is the best "deal". It's not that much more expensive than quad 3.0 from Dell. That being said "deals" are relative to the user.

Indeed. I doubt the 3.0 8-core will be a big money maker for Apple, whereas the 2.66 Quad has that potential, given that it's affordable to a lot more people. Few people can justify buying an 3.0 8-core without using it to make money. On the other hand the 2.66 Quad hits the sweet spot for the discerning non-professionals who are looking for a computer which they can impress their neighbors with. Yes, I include myself in this group

[casalynmac]

iPhone has a full OS, keyboard (albeit virtual), display, networking capabilities. Is it not a tiny PC? Why not count it as a PC in Q3? What is the difference, aside from size?