Apple Again Bucks Trend With Sales Growth in Shrinking PC Market

[cvaldes]

What the hell? Since when have apple made desktop computers?

Sarcasm? Hard to tell. It's more polite to use some indication (smiley, text note) since there are many non-native English participants on this forum.

Anyhow, Apple Inc. was founded in 1976 and has made desktop computers continually since its inception.

Today's desktop product lines include: iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro.

 

[steadysignal]

"switchers" ... plain and simple

Buyer satisfaction with other Apple products is clearly filtering down into Mac sales. This trend will only continue to strengthen.

let's hope so.

more money may yield greater innovation.

 

[RawBert]

A lot of my friends are switching.
They're all coming to me for tips and tricks.
They're like, "Wow!" I'm like, "Told ya."

 

[Tarzanman]

PC sales are shrinking because of stagnation in the primary driving force for selling new PC hardware.

Games.

Gamers now have 4 platforms to choose from (smart phone, console, hand-held, PC), and game developers are putting LESS dollars into high end PC titles and concentrating on consoles for their premium products.

With no Diablo 3 (or whatever) to entice me with gameplay I can't find anywhere else, I have much less of a reason to play games on my PC rig, much less upgrade it.

When it comes to writing emails or checking facebook, a smart phone or tablet will do that just as well as a PC.

Macs have never been gaming machines, so they are immune from that particular effect. It is 'trendy' to have a macbook right now (seriously, go to a coffee shop and tell me what you see), and the vast majority of their sales are to less-technology/gadget-savvy users who have bought their Mac because of other people telling them that Macs are good, rather than the hardware, specs, or software on the computer.

In the end, it is all marketing... which is the case with most of Apple's products. They have been selling PC hardware now for years at a higher price than their competitors. Windows 7 isn't any worse (or better) than MacOS for browsing the web or checking email..... so its not the OS that is influencing soccer moms and emo kids to buy Mac either.

It is the 'cool' factor, IMO

 

[Azathoth]

Lenovo's global shipments went up 16.3% according to the IDC report, which is pretty damn impressive.

That X220 is looking mighty appealing.

Yeah, I just read the review on the X220. Some of the best in class battery life, performance and an IPS screen option (unfortunately not high-res). Looks like a great thinkpad. I'd get one if I needed a smaller/more rugged PC.

Having said that, I see so many apple laptops nowadays - the increased per person purchasing power that most of the developed world has been afforded, combined with the lowering cost of hardware (I remember the days that *any* laptop was a serious *investment*), means that MB and MBP are no longer the high-ticket items they once were...

 

[gonnabuyamacbsh]

My heart belongs to thinkpads
love iphones, itouches, and ipads though

Seriously though, not surprising at all considering that Macs (along with Thinkpads) are the best in the industry and people clearly know it.


I wonder if after a certain period of time and after enough market share is gained, viruses and malaware will start attacking mac os...

 

[Popeye206]

I hope what this shows the PC makers is that it's not just a race to the bottom as far as price is concerned, but that people are willing to pay more for a device if it's built well and does a good job.

Stop worrying about shaving that extra dollar off the price and providing the rock-bottom rickety low-cost PC that will fall apart in a few months; instead, go ahead and invest in computers with longer battery life, better build quality, and other useful features -- consumers are willing to pay for it.

Agreed... I think many manufactures are in a self imposed trap to increase sales through discount pricing. But they also cram in the specs to impress, but the components are sub-grade and the longevity is not there.

Case in point... a friend of mine is complaining about her desktop machine. It's about 2 and half years old and she's ready to replace it. Parts keep dying and performance degrades really fast.

So, the reality in todays market is, you can buy a cheap PC and you're signing up for about 3 years of on and off problems, or you can buy a Mac and get 5+ years of almost flawless to flawless performance.

The MBP I have now is almost 5 years old and has had no problems in that time. That in it's self has been worth every extra dime.

But again... from a general consumer standpoint... people get some iDevice, they love it, get to know Apple, visit the stores and see the excitement and then they're hooked... they want more.

 

[azentropy]

As great as Macs are, the price will still be a determining factor at the end of the day. I don't see it getting as popular as PCs are. Maybe 20%?

I think that is about right. Macs are still a premium and premium priced product. There is a limited market that can afford premium priced products. You can get a mini-tower system from HP/Dell/Acer for $700 and it costs > $2000 to get a similar performing system from Apple (even if the Apple does come with more "features"). Many people can't afford or justify the price difference.

 

[Nykwil]

Just going to put this right here:


"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders" -Michael Dell

 

[notjustjay]

When it comes to writing emails or checking facebook, a smart phone or tablet will do that just as well as a PC.

Yes, and I think at this point most people who want a PC of some sort already have one. It may be an aging Compaq desktop from 2003 but it still runs, and it still does the emails and Facebook just fine, so they're not rushing out the door to buy a new one to replace it.

 

[xUKHCx]

I understand HP and Dell having such a huge market share because of large businesses and old people, but ACER?!...

I'm fairly certain they just dumped 1.8 million units off their trucks this quarter and said somebody bought them...

From the report:

Acer was affected by continued turbulence in EMEA, its biggest market. Moreover, the vendor is stilling feeling the pullback in the Mini Notebook and Consumer space, while its upcoming tablets have yet to fill in the void. In the U.S., Acer also ceded its place to a surging Apple in the US

 

[Popeye206]

PC sales are shrinking because of stagnation in the primary driving force for selling new PC hardware.

Games.

Gamers now have 4 platforms to choose from (smart phone, console, hand-held, PC), and game developers are putting LESS dollars into high end PC titles and concentrating on consoles for their premium products.

With no Diablo 3 (or whatever) to entice me with gameplay I can't find anywhere else, I have much less of a reason to play games on my PC rig, much less upgrade it.

When it comes to writing emails or checking facebook, a smart phone or tablet will do that just as well as a PC.

Macs have never been gaming machines, so they are immune from that particular effect. It is 'trendy' to have a macbook right now (seriously, go to a coffee shop and tell me what you see), and the vast majority of their sales are to less-technology/gadget-savvy users who have bought their Mac because of other people telling them that Macs are good, rather than the hardware, specs, or software on the computer.

In the end, it is all marketing... which is the case with most of Apple's products. They have been selling PC hardware now for years at a higher price than their competitors. Windows 7 isn't any worse (or better) than MacOS for browsing the web or checking email..... so its not the OS that is influencing soccer moms and emo kids to buy Mac either.

It is the 'cool' factor, IMO

I agree and disagree. It's more than just the cool factor. But that is a big part. Consumers also know that a Apple product is more reliable, better supported and overall less headache than a PC.

So basically, there is a reality to the marketing hype.

 

[rjohnstone]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8G4)

This was expected.

Well when you're at the bottom, the only logical places you can go are up or out of business.
Apple is hardly on the verge of bankruptcy, so up is the logical path.

Apple could capture more market share if they loosened the purse strings a bit and dropped some prices.
Nothing crazy, but made them more affordable for the average Joe out there. They have the margins to do it, but still keep prices on the high side.

My daughter needs to use a Mac for school work, but I simply cannot justify the $1k plus expense for a bottom of the line Mac Book.

My 2008 Dell 1525 (Cost $400 new) short of the EFI/BIOS difference, is spec'd identically (same CPU, GPU) to the 2008 13" Mac Book Pro and runs 10.6.6 and just fine.

 

[NAG]

Just going to put this right here:


"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders" -Michael Dell

I do love that quote. Of all the Winbox makers Dell seems to be the one with the bleakest future. I'm hoping HP can do something with Palm and not waste an opportunity to increase diversity in the market. But this is HP, they seem more interested in making printers (which are still a pain to set up) than innovating in the computer market. (I'd love it if they'd innovate in the printer market and make a network printer that isn't a complete pain.)

 

[NAG]

My 2008 Dell 1525 (Cost $400 new) short of the EFI/BIOS difference, is spec'd identically (same CPU, GPU) to the 2008 13" Mac Book Pro and runs 10.6.6 and just fine.

Battery life? Not saying it isn't worth it to you. Just saying, there are trade offs (which you are well aware of, most likely).

 

[duaneu]

My mom got her iphone last year. She loves it so much she's been totally into apple stuff (bought herself an ipod touch when it came out - don't ask me when she already has an iphone - and even bought me the new nano).

She says she's probably going to buy a Mac next time (and she used to snub the mac when I was a kid).

Similar experience for me. I had owned Macs since 1991, but switched to a PC in 2003. After getting the iPhone 4 last summer, I was convinced to come "back to the Mac." In February, I replaced my Dell laptop with a new MBP. I'll never go back.

 

[paul4339]

I think Mac sales are directly tied to the Halo affect of the iOS devices. The more they sell there, the more people open up to Mac as an alternative. With Lion having more iOS like interfaces, it will make it even more natural for new customers.

I think this is part of their strategy... that is, iTunes/AppStore/iOS ecosystem made them successful ($) and they have millions of loyal customers; they can transition these user, to Mac by making it have the similar features & feel.

I also think that part of their strategy is to much more aggressively roll out Apple stores to non-US markets to do this.
P.

 

[toddybody]

I think Mac sales are directly tied to the Halo affect of the iOS devices. The more they sell there, the more people open up to Mac as an alternative. With Lion having more iOS like interfaces, it will make it even more natural for new customers.

Certainly to a degree. A Part of that Halo effect is "oh my iPhone is so easy to use, maybe I should give Macs a chance"...you also have to take into account their huge marketing appeal and iOS compatibility angle. Macs are "cool" and "just work" with everything Apple.
That said, I think many of their Mac sales are undeserved. When my grandma asks what computer she should buy(just web browsing and email)...the answer isnt a MBP. Apple employees too often try to convince unsuspecting buyers to buy premium products they just dont need. Its also known as the BestBuy effect

 

[FloatingBones]

Impact of the new MBA is graphically clear

As the chart shows, Apple's strongest market share quarter is the 3Q of each year. The interesting thing is that the 4Q has far less drop-off in market share this year.

That indicates to me that the new MBA pulled in sales from places other than the back-to-school crowd.

If things break well, Apple may now be above the 10% threshold in US market share every quarter going forward.

 

[toddybody]

Battery life? Not saying it isn't worth it to you. Just saying, there are trade offs (which you are well aware of, most likely).

Battery Life, build quality, customer support...all big things. That said, I agree with the core of Nykwil's argument. The Apple Tax has gotten out of control. Im tired of Toshiba/Dell/HP making systems with far superior specs, at 30% less than Apple. That doesnt stop the masses from buying MB's and showing Apple "we* dont know the difference".


*MacRumors' Members exception

 

[linux2mac]

And all the Apple haters claim the "iToys" are responsible for the immense growth. Nah, people just want a PC that works and its called a Mac!

 

[toddybody]

And all the Apple haters claim the "iToys" are responsible for the immense growth. Nah, people just want a PC that works and its called a Mac!

Totally, cause Windows doesnt work...users are just pretending

 

[rjohnstone]

Battery life? Not saying it isn't worth it to you. Just saying, there are trade offs (which you are well aware of, most likely).

None that I'm aware of... my battery is getting pretty old now, but in the beginning I was getting 3 to 4 hours out of it on average.
This was the same as I was getting when it was running Vista Home Premium.
Power management has been pretty decent on the Dell from 10.6.2 on up to 10.6.6.

Down to about 2 hours now. This is due to an old and very heavily used battery over the last 3 years. Battery meter is already telling me to replace the battery due to low battery life.
I'll just buy another laptop since a new battery costs about half the price of a new laptop.

Battery Life, build quality, customer support...all big things.

Build quality on my 1525 is on par with many Apple products I've owned.
Battery life is similar. Remember, Apple and Dell get their batteries from the same manufacturer.
And Dell support for their hardware is top notch.
When the track pad went out on mine they replaced it with no questions asked. If it's still in the warranty period, Dell will fix it regardless of what OS you're running. They will simply run a hardware diag to see if it's a legitimate hardware failure. If yes, the defective part is replaced.

 

[toddybody]

From the report:

Do MR gods work full time for the site? Or do you folks have normal 9-5's elsewhere...just curious

Oh, and Im glad Apple's growth is positive (so I cant be accused of non-topical posts)

 

[PlipPlop]

I agree and disagree. It's more than just the cool factor. But that is a big part. Consumers also know that a Apple product is more reliable, better supported and overall less headache than a PC.

So basically, there is a reality to the marketing hype.

Im not sure about the reliability, Apple products have taken a massive down turn in reliability. My old G4 is going strong but everyone I know who has a Mac Book has had to have them repaired by Apple stores. Seems like the dvd drives on them break quite a lot.