Apple Ranks Third in Global PC Sales With iPad Included

[dgree03]

We should only be arguing whether the Ipad belong in "PC Sale" numbers. Ipad is a computer, just like the Ipod Touch. So why not lump those?

It because they belong in different catergories... PC are more robust, with a more robust OS.

Ipad, iOS... have a limited use, but it is very good at what it does.

 

[Vulpinemac]

Well which one is it? You just contradicted yourself. Are you suggesting every time I want to update it with software, music, pictures and videos I go to a friend's house?

Sounds 'magical'.

How about the Apple Store? They do it for free. The rest can be done over-the-air.

And what do they write them on, they're iPods?

ALL applications are written on computers.

I believe the clarification would be--most users don't write applications. Period.

 

[iStudentUK]

Reading comprehension fail. I didn't say competition has nothing to do with comparing, i said that it doesn't have much to do with wether or not having iPads in the comparison is valid. I thought brits had good english skills. 😕

Oh dear, reducing to silly insults is always a bad sign.

Competition has everything to do with whether or not having iPads in the comparison is valid.

If the comparison was how much money each company makes or how many devices each company sells in entirety then it would not be a factor and the comparison would be valid. This is not the case here- the data is specifically to do with a subset of company sales and competition is vital to assessing the validity of the comparison. The second part of my previous comment address this.

 

[iStudentUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

The iPad is a computer. Feel free to believe otherwise, though. You have every right to be wrong.

The strict definition of 'computer' is largely irrelevant here. Many modern calculators meet the definition of computer, but to add sales of these to the table would be extremely misleading. HP make lab equipment which are computers, should we add this?

The use of the device is much more important in this table. Some people use iPads to replace their laptops, others use it principally as a toy, or an ereader, or an iPod etc. It would be appropriate to include the former sales, but not the later. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to asses the proportion of iPad sales that fall into each category.

 

[gnasher729]

Q4 2009 = 12.5 million
Q4 2010 = 13.6 million

😕

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/13/apple-boosts-market-share-in-slumping-u-s-pc-market/

Acer US sales dropped by about 30 percent from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010.

Since the US market is where the iPad was released first and sold most, Acer has to be prepared for a similar drop in other markets. There are plenty of big markets that are just a year or two behind on the curve.

 

[shervieux]

Here we go again

Here we go again with the bickering back and fourth that the iPad is/not a computer. blah blah blah 🙄

What most people consider a computer:

1. Does it do email?
2. Does it surf the web?
3. Can I do word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations?
4. Can I take notes on it?
5. Can I record Audio on it?
6. Can it store my pictures, video, etc?
7. Can I do video editing on it?
8. Can I do accounting / book keeping, invoicing on it?
9. Can I play games on it?
10. Can I do my home finance/ budget on it?
11. Can I store files on it?
12. Can I chat with other people on it (AIM, iChat, trillian, etc)?
13. Can I attend webinars on it?

Yes Yes Yes and Yes (not writing yes 13 times) 😉

There are apps for all of them. And like other software on what people consider traditional computers - how good it does them is how the software and capabilities within the software are written.

I have 243 apps on my ipad. I can do everything except (heavy video editing due to memory), and mass file storage (due to memory). this is a problem any computer will run into without insufficient ram or hard drive space.

Now, in regards to that. Since there are a lot of apps that are full blown software (which work like desktop software - I am thinking Omnigraffle for one; but there are many others). It just goes to prove that many desktop apps are bloated. If I can get good performance out of a device with 32gb storage and 256mb ram, then why do we insist on everything having to have 2gb min ram and 500gb hard drive. Hard drive I can see as we accumulate files.

And for the other questions...

Printing - yes, there are several apps for that. they either require a wifi printer or work with an email address or print server on another computer.

Optical Drive - many of your net books don't have that. And I call the Macbook air a high end netbook. In fact my Lenovo X61T tablet is not a netbook class, but the optical drive is actually external in the included dock.

Look at what they call a computer in your car. It controls a lot in your car, yet you can't directly interact with it.

com·put·er   
[kuhm-pyoo-ter] Show IPA
–noun
1.
Also called processor. an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations.

 

[iStudentUK]

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/13/apple-boosts-market-share-in-slumping-u-s-pc-market/

Acer US sales dropped by about 30 percent from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010.

Since the US market is where the iPad was released first and sold most, Acer has to be prepared for a similar drop in other markets. There are plenty of big markets that are just a year or two behind on the curve.

Interesting, I remember that now.

Perhaps the Q4 2011 results will be interesting.

Although, Apple tends to have a much higher market share for Macs in the US compared to the rest of the world, but not so for iPods I believe which is consistently at around 80% I believe. So if the iPad sells in the rest of the world like an iPod (ie on a similar level to the US) then other PC companies could see a hit, but if it sells like a Mac (ie much more modest sales than in the US) then the impact may be quite small.

Phew! Gets complex!

 

[JGuez]

No contradiction. Owning a computer and having access to a computer are not the same thing. You do not need to have direct access to another computer after activation unless you want to update the OS.

Yes. If you want to continue to use the iPad for all it's purposes you need to use another computer.

Way to miss the point. I was comparing Windows activation to iPad activation. Both involve connecting to another computer (locally or over the internet). It's not really a significant issue as to what market the iPad competes in.

Windows does not require you to connect to a computer locally or over the internet. I just set up a Windows computer yesterday and not once did I have to connect to the internet or another computer.

Sure, but I was saying that most people don't write applications, so it's not really a significant issue as to what market the iPad competes in.

I think I see the miscommunication. You said:

"Most people don't write applications on their computers."

I understood it as "Most people who write applications do not write them on their computers.".

The "on their computers" part is what threw me off. I see now you meant it as :

"Most people don't write applications.".

 

[sillypooh]

True. If netbooks get included, then why not iPads? Why not? Is it because there's no USB port?

Sorry but I do get enough work done on my iPad to start considering it as a PC in its own right. I couldn't work on a phone!

Sent from my iPad.

 

[caseydriscoll]

If we consider the way in which an iPad is used it certainly looks a lot like a computer in the vast majority of cases.

Consider the car market. I could buy an all terrain vehicle or I could buy a sports car. Both are cars but they don't really compete with one another. I doubt whether Jaguar worries when Land Rover launches a new model. See what I mean? They are both cars and are similar in all the basic ways - they can even be used for some of the the same things - but they don't compete directly.

But then, consider entertainment. The use of the internet for web surfing and social networking has reduced the amount of TV that teenagers watch. The net isn't the same as TV in the vast majority of ways but it still competes.

You can see then that being similar is not the thing that decides if you compete but rather the need you fill. If you concede this point then you must concede that since the iPad fills the need for web browsing and media consumption as well as basic computing tasks such as word processing and email - the exact same needs which are filled by traditional computers for the vast majority of people - it can legitimately be considered a competitor and counted in the same sales figures.

But just because some people find a golf cart is a suitable replacement for their needs it does not make it a real competitor.

On system compiler and file explorer should be basic part of the definition. (in my humble opinion)

 

[spazzcat]

iPad is not a computer.
If you add iPad why don't you add iPod Touch too?

They stated why, they count any with a 7" or bigger screen....

 

[Vulpinemac]

The ipad is a computer the same way a Super Nintendo and my cell phone is a computer. Just like the PC is a computer, but they don't all go into the same category. There's a significant difference in the form factor and how people use them. I mean come on. I know some people will ignore all that because they like the idea of Apple being in 3rd place and they'll take anyway they can, but the iPad is not even a Mac.

Isn't it? Prior to getting renamed as iOS, it was known as OS X for the iPhone.

Edit: If the lady in the article has to make special conditions like saying that it must have at least a 7 inch screen or something (as if she invented the computer) just to keep iPhones and other cell phones out of the equation, then the iPad is not a computer.

I don't really see that as a "special condition" since the netbook fits that qualification equally well.

Edit Again: I re read that part and I don't think it was a lady, just that I confused the name as a girl's name. Also, look at it like this, the Nintendo DS and PSP though video games systems are not in the same category as the PS3, X-Box or the Wii. There's a significant difference in how they are used. And the Wii, being much, much weaker than the X-Box and PS3, and having a different way of controlling the games, is still in the same category as the PS3 and the 360.

The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are considered "Handheld Gaming Consoles" while the Nintendo Wii is still considered a "Gaming Console" even if it is different. The iPod Touch looks headed for a similar rating if things continue as they are. But the iPad can still do more than the iPod Touch simply due to its larger size and more available screen real estate. There are some apps that are iPad-only and that number seems to be growing at a pretty good rate.

 

[inlovewithi]

They stated why, they count any with a 7" or bigger screen....

So just because that person decided to put a cut off number just to exclude the iPhone and other cell phones makes the iPad a computer. Who is that person and what makes them the decider in the computer industry? Why not 6 inches or a quarter inch above the iphone? What makes 7 the magic number? Have to be able to think for yourself rather than accepting what some person said.

 

[Vulpinemac]

Interesting, I remember that now.

Perhaps the Q4 2011 results will be interesting.

Although, Apple tends to have a much higher market share for Macs in the US compared to the rest of the world, but not so for iPods I believe which is consistently at around 80% I believe. So if the iPad sells in the rest of the world like an iPod (ie on a similar level to the US) then other PC companies could see a hit, but if it sells like a Mac (ie much more modest sales than in the US) then the impact may be quite small.

Phew! Gets complex!

More complex once you realize that this particular study counted Global sales, not just US sales. The obvious result here is that the iPad brought Apple's global numbers up to where Apple's US numbers used to be. What did the iPad do to Apple's US numbers?

 

[ikir]

Nice try, iPad is not for serious "computing".

Not true, iPad can do many things and in better ways than a computer. Since its nature it has its limits, but in the same way a netbook is limited. So your point is useless, since also netbook are counted in.

 

[Starflyer]

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Neither is a netbook but they count.

 

[LOLaMac]

Why not throw in the iPhone and iPod Touch.....maybe even finagle the Nano in there, too. Whatever it takes for some inflated, Apple e-peen stroking. If the iPad is a computer, then the computer market has taken a *SERIOUS* downturn in terms of performance and usability.

 

[bigrob66]

The iPad is a computer for ranking PC shipments?

If so, then so is the iPhone and other modern smartphones given that the CPU, GPU and RAM are pretty much the same for these devices. The larger display does not a computer make.

 

[blueraja]

Well I think the point is that while most geeks don't consider the iPad a computer...we don't consider netbooks to really be computers either, they are weak, slow and ill equipped for many things a real notebook or desktop can do. Sill for the vast majority..it does enough to replace those devices for them and yes the screen does make the difference...There have been articles after articles about how the iPad is cutting into netbook sales, they have similar capabilities so should netbooks be excluded as well? If so Acer is going to surely drop drastically from that #2 position.

 

[linux2mac]

It's amazing how Apple has turned around since I first started using Macs back in the early 90s.

I jumped in at Snow Leopard. I wish I would have switched much earlier but I had drunk the MS Kool Aid my former Fortune 100 employer gave me.

 

[aristotle]

If Point of Sale devices are included in PC shipment numbers then so should iPads.

In a corporate environment, you do not need to have a separate computer to be issued an iPad. The IT staff can setup and provision you one just like how they setup and provision desktops and laptops for end users.

Netbooks are also not a direct replacement for a real desktop because while they do run a desktop OS and can run some of the same programs as desktops, they are too underpowered to do serious work in those desktop applications. To do serious work, you would have to use the same remote access tools that you would use on an iPad such as Citrix.

 

[DeathChill]

Why not throw in the iPhone and iPod Touch.....maybe even finagle the Nano in there, too. Whatever it takes for some inflated, Apple e-peen stroking. If the iPad is a computer, then the computer market has taken a *SERIOUS* downturn in terms of performance and usability.

I'm not sure that you know what that word means.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

An iPad is not a toaster. An iPad is not a fishing reel. An iPad is a computer because it is purchased with the intent to do the same tasks a computer is purchased to accomplish, and used as such. It doesn't perform every task imaginable and do it all optimally, but then, no laptop I've ever used could run Catia worth a damn either. Doesn't make laptops non-computers. Details of its setup and organization differ from other computers, but that doesn't make it not a computer. Objects such as this are defined by their use. It has hardware, it has software, they work together to do the things people require computers to do.

1. You need another computer for its initial set up. Guess what, when we buy a pile of PCs, we put em on the rack and require another computer to set those up too.

2. You can't write apps for it, on it, yet. There's nothing inherent in the device that makes it incapable of this. It's just not implemented. Technically, an app could be written to code for the device on the device. ...though it seems like it'd be a lot of effort for functionality few people would bother to utilize.

3. No file system. It has a file system, and a fine one at that. It just stays out of sight and allows you to focus on your applications rather than where you put things. If you want a big sandbox to keep your files in, & have them sync'd to web backups & hosting you can download one, there are plenty to choose from.

 

[DeathChill]

An iPad is not a toaster. An iPad is not a fishing reel.

Don't come in here trying to fill my head with your lies.

 

[lilo777]

iPad - the first personal computer which can not be used for programming. Even some calculators are better PCs than iPad.