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Apple's Laptop Marketshare Up 2%
- Thread starter MacBytes
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What is truly impressive is not only did Apple's market share increase, but the qty sold to equal a percentage point increased also. Apple is growing faster than the competition in a growing market.
U.S. Laptop Unit Sales and Marketshare
Q2 2003 Q1 2003 Q2 2002
Unit Sales 216,000 (5) 146,000 (6) 154,000 (5)
Marketshare 7 .0% (5) 5.1% (6) 5.9% (5)
U.S. Laptop Unit Sales and Marketshare
Q2 2003 Q1 2003 Q2 2002
Unit Sales 216,000 (5) 146,000 (6) 154,000 (5)
Marketshare 7 .0% (5) 5.1% (6) 5.9% (5)
Yeay me - I've got my new Powerbook sitting in it's box under my desk, and I can't play with it until I get out of work (in just over 2 hours).
I also got my .mac account running, but my work eMac seems unable ot sync with it (despite that little bar moving through all the steps and it all looking very encouraging).
Whats' that about? Don't tell me that one of the main reasons I bought the Apple (to work with my office machine) is going to turn out to be a failure...
Is this jsut to pay me back for all that umming and arring about whether I should get a PC instead?
I also got my .mac account running, but my work eMac seems unable ot sync with it (despite that little bar moving through all the steps and it all looking very encouraging).
Whats' that about? Don't tell me that one of the main reasons I bought the Apple (to work with my office machine) is going to turn out to be a failure...
Is this jsut to pay me back for all that umming and arring about whether I should get a PC instead?
Wow. Apple's quarterly results are going to be huge. Especially when you add on the iPod, iSight, G5, Pro software, and strong iBook sales.
Maybe Apple will see double digit revenue growth. I noticed the G5 jumped back into the top 10 sales chart on the Apple store along with the iPod, powerbooks, iSight, and iMacs.
Maybe Apple will see double digit revenue growth. I noticed the G5 jumped back into the top 10 sales chart on the Apple store along with the iPod, powerbooks, iSight, and iMacs.
Re: Bloody f**king car analogies.
Well, until you or someone else comes up with a better one, you're likely to keep hearing them. The only other halfway decent one I've heard that comes close is the one Steve Jobs used in a recent interview when he equated Dell to Wal-Mart.
It does continue to amaze me how Apple is slammed repeatedly by many for having a 5% market share while automakers like BMW or Mercedes for example, with far less than that percentage in their market, are never criticized for it once. That's why it makes for a good analogy here in my book.
Well, until you or someone else comes up with a better one, you're likely to keep hearing them. The only other halfway decent one I've heard that comes close is the one Steve Jobs used in a recent interview when he equated Dell to Wal-Mart.
It does continue to amaze me how Apple is slammed repeatedly by many for having a 5% market share while automakers like BMW or Mercedes for example, with far less than that percentage in their market, are never criticized for it once. That's why it makes for a good analogy here in my book.
With the increased interopability of Panther, I don't think it's too far fetched to imagine PC users buying PBs just because the form factor beats the pants off of everything else. At least I hope so!
fraeone
fraeone
Why not? I'm so pleased with my new 15" I'll certainly be mentioning it to others. (As often as possible). Well, no, not too often - i want to keep my friends - but the build quality certainly did impress me, even though I was expecting it to be good.
Now, OK, it's not perfect - it burns it's way through my trousers (pants, for you Americans) worryingly fast, but apart from that it's amazing. All the little touches: the glowing Apple to help robbers target you, the lovely glowing mains adaptor sockets, oh... it's just good.
Thing is, there is no reason why PCs can't be made to this standard. Or better. There are Sony machines that come close, but they're not cheap either.
Still, it it wasn't for the PowerBook I'd never have been a switcher. That's one.
Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
But I apologise for the bad language nonetheless.
If that prevents you from reading the content of the post, you are more than welcome to take away that second word from the subject of my post. You know, that word that everybody uses but when someone else says it, everybody is shocked... In my book it's called a hypocritical reaction. Anyway, it wasn't veiled the least bit.
But I apologise for the bad language nonetheless.
Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
Why do you need an analogy? Don't you think it's possible to argue your point based only on facts/experiences of the computer industry?
The best part about the increase in laptop market share is that huge numbers of existing and future Powerbook users were waiting...salivating....for the new 15's to be released. One would think Apple's laptop numbers over the last year would have been down, as most of us knew the 15 TiBooks were on the verge of being EOL'd and we didn't want to "waste our money" on older architecture.
Just imagine what those numbers are going to look like in another 6-12 months now that the floodgates have opened with the 15" AlBook release.
Just imagine what those numbers are going to look like in another 6-12 months now that the floodgates have opened with the 15" AlBook release.
Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
Maybe in order to compare things in order to get a better perspective? And why should it be limited only to facts of the computer industry? There isn't another Apple Computer (or a company even remotely similar) out there in the computer industry to compare them to anyway.
Just because we're talking about computers here doesn't mean that very similar situations don't go on in other industries too. In any line of business you are going to see comparisons and analogies to other industries all the time. It's not like it's inappropriate or that it doesn't apply to this discussion just because it happens to be computers we're discussing in this instance. Same goes for cars or anything else.
Maybe in order to compare things in order to get a better perspective? And why should it be limited only to facts of the computer industry? There isn't another Apple Computer (or a company even remotely similar) out there in the computer industry to compare them to anyway.
Just because we're talking about computers here doesn't mean that very similar situations don't go on in other industries too. In any line of business you are going to see comparisons and analogies to other industries all the time. It's not like it's inappropriate or that it doesn't apply to this discussion just because it happens to be computers we're discussing in this instance. Same goes for cars or anything else.
Where does this number come from?
The more and more I read about market-share, etc. the more I begin to believe that these numbers are entirely made up:
Every Windows purchase includes upgrades so someone going from 95 - XP would 'buy' Windows 5 times. But, that's the same user.
Also, how does this account for machines that are junked or DOA?
How do Linux users fit in: they often remove Windows right away or partion the drive, so Windows gets the market-share count, but is that really honest.
And doesn't Virtual PC purchases count towards Windows?
So, please someone quote some real figures from real statistical data. Everything else is just mental masterbation.
Note: the Apple marketshare numbers come from a real source, I'm not disputing those.
The more and more I read about market-share, etc. the more I begin to believe that these numbers are entirely made up:
Every Windows purchase includes upgrades so someone going from 95 - XP would 'buy' Windows 5 times. But, that's the same user.
Also, how does this account for machines that are junked or DOA?
How do Linux users fit in: they often remove Windows right away or partion the drive, so Windows gets the market-share count, but is that really honest.
And doesn't Virtual PC purchases count towards Windows?
So, please someone quote some real figures from real statistical data. Everything else is just mental masterbation.
Note: the Apple marketshare numbers come from a real source, I'm not disputing those.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
It's all very nice to take just the part that suits you (not you, ONE) in the comparison, saying something like "all things being equal", because the truth is you cannot escape the impact of the outside factors (the OS anyone?), and if you do your example (BMW) becomes irrelevant because it lacks those conditions.
I know I am being pedant as well as off-topic, etc... But I have to say it when I think it doesn't make sense.
Just my not-so-humble opinion
.
I am not trying to limit you or anything. But what I am trying to say is comparing Apple to BMW is, to me, completely pointless. The comparison concerns what? Apple the computer manufacturer? But then what about the dynamics of Apple the OS manufacturer? How do you relate to the car industry? Where is Microsoft's monopoly? What level of market fragmentation on the car manufacturing industry? Is that relevant to the OS situation? Can you dissociate the OS from the hardware and if not what's the similarity with BMW???
It's all very nice to take just the part that suits you (not you, ONE) in the comparison, saying something like "all things being equal", because the truth is you cannot escape the impact of the outside factors (the OS anyone?), and if you do your example (BMW) becomes irrelevant because it lacks those conditions.
I know I am being pedant as well as off-topic, etc... But I have to say it when I think it doesn't make sense.
Just my not-so-humble opinion
.Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
I've got to chip in and agree with this. Cars all use the same 'OS' (Steering wheel and pedal arrangement), and there is a lot of competition. Exactly as if there computer industry was made up of only Wintel box sellers with no Apple at all. Then Ford are Dell and BMW are Sony, or something.
By selling it's own operating system, Apple define themselves are offering a wholly different product. If they then fail to make a large inroad into the market it's legitimate to criticise. It might well be that Apple only wished to target it's niche market, but it's products (iPhoto etc.) suggest otherwise.
You cannot then say "oh, it's ok, it's like BMW" because the real battle is over the operating system. Apple need to maintain a critical mass or developers will leave.
Perhaps a better analogy (though by no means any good) is that Windows v OS X is like America v Canada. One's much bigger, caters for everyone so long as they don't mind "protecting" themsleves (gun/virus soiftware) and is for the most part brash and ugly. Canada is more refined, but the cost of living seems higher. On the other hand, once you've stomached the cost, you get all sorts of stuff - free healthcare etc - and everyone just gets along (like OS X applications).
Sorry Americans, but I hope you see what I'm getting at. And I hope you see sense and stop starting wars for no good reason... (now politics is even more dangerous than arguing about what car is best, but software is all corporate politics)
I've got to chip in and agree with this. Cars all use the same 'OS' (Steering wheel and pedal arrangement), and there is a lot of competition. Exactly as if there computer industry was made up of only Wintel box sellers with no Apple at all. Then Ford are Dell and BMW are Sony, or something.
By selling it's own operating system, Apple define themselves are offering a wholly different product. If they then fail to make a large inroad into the market it's legitimate to criticise. It might well be that Apple only wished to target it's niche market, but it's products (iPhoto etc.) suggest otherwise.
You cannot then say "oh, it's ok, it's like BMW" because the real battle is over the operating system. Apple need to maintain a critical mass or developers will leave.
Perhaps a better analogy (though by no means any good) is that Windows v OS X is like America v Canada. One's much bigger, caters for everyone so long as they don't mind "protecting" themsleves (gun/virus soiftware) and is for the most part brash and ugly. Canada is more refined, but the cost of living seems higher. On the other hand, once you've stomached the cost, you get all sorts of stuff - free healthcare etc - and everyone just gets along (like OS X applications).
Sorry Americans, but I hope you see what I'm getting at. And I hope you see sense and stop starting wars for no good reason... (now politics is even more dangerous than arguing about what car is best, but software is all corporate politics)
Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
Would you use that word in front of a 12 year old? A ten year old? A nun or a priest? Guess what? You just did! in all likelihood, that is.
Profanity on these forums seems endemic...and it's totally unnecessary. If you can't make your point without profanity, you can't make your point with it, either. More important, these are OPEN forums. MAC forums. NOT adult forums. Or "late night humor" forums.
Car analogies may offend you, but you gotta admit they're relatively harmless to use in front of little kids.
(I didn't use it, by the way, I also dislike the BMW analogy, mainly because BMWs sell for their performance - NOT their quality, I'd hope, given that Toyota can EASILY beat their quality and their price - what's funny is very few BMW owners ever press their cars to the point where they'd outperform a Toyota. It's mostly image. BMWs do perform extremely well, but that's not why people buy 'em, any more than the average - the AVERAGE, not you personally - buyer gets a Ford Expedition to tow a trailer. The average Mac user does use most of its advantages, and the longevity is not an image that comes because it's so expensive and made in a particular country that does a good job of marketing.)
Would you use that word in front of a 12 year old? A ten year old? A nun or a priest? Guess what? You just did! in all likelihood, that is.
Profanity on these forums seems endemic...and it's totally unnecessary. If you can't make your point without profanity, you can't make your point with it, either. More important, these are OPEN forums. MAC forums. NOT adult forums. Or "late night humor" forums.
Car analogies may offend you, but you gotta admit they're relatively harmless to use in front of little kids.
(I didn't use it, by the way, I also dislike the BMW analogy, mainly because BMWs sell for their performance - NOT their quality, I'd hope, given that Toyota can EASILY beat their quality and their price - what's funny is very few BMW owners ever press their cars to the point where they'd outperform a Toyota. It's mostly image. BMWs do perform extremely well, but that's not why people buy 'em, any more than the average - the AVERAGE, not you personally - buyer gets a Ford Expedition to tow a trailer. The average Mac user does use most of its advantages, and the longevity is not an image that comes because it's so expensive and made in a particular country that does a good job of marketing.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
Sorry for that, but I was trying to lighten up the mood...
Ah yes, the innocence of childhood. You know after you said that, something was nagging me at the back of my mind, but I couldn't figure out what... Now I know what that is: it reminded of a Simpsons' episode where Homer says "frigging" in front of the Flanders kids and then Ned jumps, horrified, to cover his kid's ears who then says "Ouch, my frigging ears!"...
Sorry for that, but I was trying to lighten up the mood...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bloody (blip) car analogies.
Ah, the Flanders - always the best characters. I love the one where Krusty the clown colapses drunk in their garden and Rod and Tod are prodding him with a stick:
"Is he evil"
"He smells evil!"
Ah, the Flanders - always the best characters. I love the one where Krusty the clown colapses drunk in their garden and Rod and Tod are prodding him with a stick:
"Is he evil"
"He smells evil!"
Apple's marketshare used to be much higher - that's no secret. Recently Apple has managed to go through spurts of growth when exciting new products are released(iMac,iPod). However, I am still not satisfied. In order to gain serious ground on the PC market, Apple needs something along the order of 40% growth annually. That means that growth needs to be explosive and constant. Not an easy thing to do, but several other computer manufacturers have experienced similar growth in the past. They just need to be very smart about it.
iirc, Jobs has said (on two separate occasions),
- The desktop war is over, the winner has won
- He's not interested in conquering the PC market, just remaining a niche player
Obviously I want Apple to succeed and the more people who understand it (I'd rather have people understand than cloned Mac-haters), the better. But at the same time I quite like owning a machine that only a few other people I know own, and having a lot of Mac envy along with the Mac-hating.
AppleMatt
I totally agree with this! I had a PC before my Mac and it lasted about 2 years, my Mac which replaced it is now on its fourth year, and its still going strong. So the actual sales figures probably don't reflect the true number of macs in use... I know one school that still uses the original all in one macs (like the smiling one when you start up OS9), and they are used alongside modern windows machines!
This is my single largest complaint about Steve Jobs. He doesn't seem to even want to try to grow. The idea that Wintel is invulnerable is simply not true. Huge companies can and do fail all the time. Times change.
Why deprive the rest of the world of Macs? Seems rather selfish to me.
Besides, just because we are wise enough to use Macs, doesn't mean that we should be an exclusive club.
Elitist me?
I actually would like nice even splits between Macs/PCs/Linux Boxen/*Nix Boxen. Maybe something like 20/40/30/10, or slight variations thereof.
Macs should remain the computer of choice for artists, musicians, graphic designers, CGI teams, movies, etc. Windows can remain the PC for business where cheap ugly solutions remain the average, while Linux can eat the rest of its lunch. Linux/*Nix can work the server and infrastructure end. PDAs, web-apps, etc. will have to work with each because of the split and things like Word and IM will have to work cross-platform. Minor entrusions can work in each group and these can change over time within a general mean, but overall this keeps any one company's dominance from messing up anything else.
I don't want to see a Mac attached to an ATM anymore than I want a Wintel box in a Los-Angeles-class submarine. Nuclear power plants, NASA, the Office of Homeland Security should be run on various flavors of *Nix and not on a consumer machine.
If someone really, really wants a Wintel box let them have it, but at least make it into a choice.
I actually would like nice even splits between Macs/PCs/Linux Boxen/*Nix Boxen. Maybe something like 20/40/30/10, or slight variations thereof.
Macs should remain the computer of choice for artists, musicians, graphic designers, CGI teams, movies, etc. Windows can remain the PC for business where cheap ugly solutions remain the average, while Linux can eat the rest of its lunch. Linux/*Nix can work the server and infrastructure end. PDAs, web-apps, etc. will have to work with each because of the split and things like Word and IM will have to work cross-platform. Minor entrusions can work in each group and these can change over time within a general mean, but overall this keeps any one company's dominance from messing up anything else.
I don't want to see a Mac attached to an ATM anymore than I want a Wintel box in a Los-Angeles-class submarine. Nuclear power plants, NASA, the Office of Homeland Security should be run on various flavors of *Nix and not on a consumer machine.
If someone really, really wants a Wintel box let them have it, but at least make it into a choice.
Re: Elitist me?
I would prefer a different split, more like 40%Mac/20%PC/20%Linux/20%Other. But who is either of us to decide what is best for others to buy? If an accountant decides that they want to use a Mac instead of a PC, who am I to argue? I agree that people should have more choice. Right now most people don't even believe that they have a choice at all.
Macs can be just as good or better than a Wintel box for most any purpose if appropriate applications are available.
BTW- I saw a statistic somewhere that said that 75% of the computers used by the DoD run Windows of some kind.
I would prefer a different split, more like 40%Mac/20%PC/20%Linux/20%Other. But who is either of us to decide what is best for others to buy? If an accountant decides that they want to use a Mac instead of a PC, who am I to argue? I agree that people should have more choice. Right now most people don't even believe that they have a choice at all.
Macs can be just as good or better than a Wintel box for most any purpose if appropriate applications are available.
BTW- I saw a statistic somewhere that said that 75% of the computers used by the DoD run Windows of some kind.