Apple's Mindshare Gaining?

[MacRumors]

MacWorld.co.uk reports on a small survey conducted by InsightExpress, an online Market Research firm.

While details of the actual survey are not provided, Apple scored a respectable 4th place (14%) amongst "the favourite brand" amongst "Americans looking to buy a new PC." HP (31%), Gateway (24%), and Dell (19%) held the first three spots.

Of interest, 65% of those surveyed responded that "look-&-feel" were the most important factor to consider in their buying decision.

 

[ITR 81]

One day Apples marketshare will be like it's mindshare because if Apple owned almost 25% of the PC market all the PC makers would be shaking in their boots.

 

[Roller]

Sounds good, but it's hard to tell much without knowing more about their methodology: what specific questions were asked, how was the sample chosen, etc.

I suspect that there are more people who would like to buy Macs than end up doing so.

 

[tveric]

HP?!?!

What's outrageous is not that Apple is in 4th place, but that HP is in 1st! Just shows that people are clueless; those have to be the worst mass-produced PCs on the market. The only thing I can figure is that they're cheaper than Gateway and Dell, or at least have that rep, so maybe that's why people want to buy em.

Then again, having looked at Dell's website just now, you can get a complete desktop for under $500! Maybe people just don't know.

Anyway, 14% has got be looked at as an improvement for Apple. yay!

 

[andyduncan]

Gateway and HP leading? Really? Sounds suspect. I could see Dell...

 

[Foxer]

Gateway? Who did they poll? My grandmother?

 

[Kid Red]

Re: Apple's Mindshare Gaining?

Originally posted by Macrumors


Of interest, 26% of those surveyed responded that "look-&-feel" were the most important factor to consider in their buying decision.

Actually, it was 65%.

 

[spinner]

While this is really good news, but I have to wonder who they polled and how. Because I can't believe HP and Gateway would be ahead of Dell. Every other commercial on TV is some stupid Dell ad.

 

[Bengt77]

OMG!

Why does Gateway still have a whopping 24% mindshare? I thought it was quite obvious the only thing they actually do is copying others? What the heck? How can a company like Gateway have such a high mindshare? They have a quarter of the pie, mind you! Even though Dell doesn't innovate by itself, I still think higher of it than of Gateway. It's not surprising HP is the top scorer here; they have the biggest marketshare too, isn't it? You see HP's everywhere nowadays; horrible. Can't see why would want to have one.

But still, 14% isn't all that bad, is it? Is it?!...

 

[1macker1]

4th is not good. I mean those 3 ahead of apple are the major players. Who did they beat out.....SONY

 

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by Roller
I suspect that there are more people who would like to buy Macs than end up doing so.

That much is obvious from the market share numbers

I completely agree with your point, however. Obviously, there is a continuum of questions from "If money were no object and you had all your applications on all platforms, which machine would you buy?" to "Are you going to buy a Mac today?", and without knowing where on that continuum this survey resides it's hard to give it any weight.

Personally, if asked the far-end-of-the-continuum question (money no object, apps no object), I'd be a bit dissapointed to see less than about 75% Apple in the field given, and would expect more along the lines of 85% (there are always going to be nut cases who prefer Windows ). I mean, seriously, if money was no object, would you buy a Dell?

 

[TimDaddy]

I hope it translates into a future market share closer to that number, but that may not be the case. I recall a couple of years ago the Toyota Avalon was the number one car researched on edmunds.com. This cars sales have since continued to decline and it is currently insignificant in the auto market. Of course, Toyota kind of neglects the Avalon in favor of its big volume models, Apple keeps its product line fresh. One thing I do see in common is price. I speculated that all these people researching the Avalon were turned off by its seemingly higher price for a little less (though extremely refined and reliable) car. This definately applies to Apple Computer, as well.

 

[TomSmithMacEd]

Originally posted by 1macker1
4th is not good. I mean those 3 ahead of apple are the major players. Who did they beat out.....SONY

I think being 4th isn't bad, I think this survey was really bad.

 

[jettredmont]

Re: OMG!

Originally posted by Bengt77
Why does Gateway still have a whopping 24% mindshare? I thought it was quite obvious the only thing they actually do is copying others? What the heck? How can a company like Gateway have such a high mindshare? They have a quarter of the pie, mind you! Even though Dell doesn't innovate by itself, I still think higher of it than of Gateway. It's not surprising HP is the top scorer here; they have the biggest marketshare too, isn't it? You see HP's everywhere nowadays; horrible. Can't see why would want to have one.

But still, 14% isn't all that bad, is it? Is it?!...

IMHO, the rankings between HP, Dell, and Gateway point more to a familiarity problem than anything else, and lend doubt to the importance of the survey. People see HP computers every time they go into Walmart or Sam's Club or Costco, and they line the shelves of Best Buy and Circuit City. Gateway Stores are losing money in a huge number of strip malls. Dell is a mail-order company whose only presence is a dopy stoner and even dopier intern ads on TV. They don't have the overall familiarity that HP and Gateway have amongst people just wandering about. This leads me to believe that this survey didn't take much care in looking for "ready to buy" consumers, or even "might buy in the next six months" consumers, but just picked Joe Sixpack off the street and asked him what he thought (he must get really tired of all the attention he gets!)

However, when people actually put down money, that's when they see Dell, which is why Dell is the market leader, not HP or Gateway.

 

[winmacguy]

Re: OMG!

Originally posted by Bengt77
Why does Gateway still have a whopping 24% mindshare? I thought it was quite obvious the only thing they actually do is copying others? What the heck? How can a company like Gateway have such a high mindshare? They have a quarter of the pie, mind you! Even though Dell doesn't innovate by itself, I still think higher of it than of Gateway. It's not surprising HP is the top scorer here; they have the biggest marketshare too, isn't it? You see HP's everywhere nowadays; horrible. Can't see why would want to have one.

But still, 14% isn't all that bad, is it? Is it?!...

Innovation has got nothing to do with market share. Just look at Windows. Its all about price, marketing and making sure that everybody out there thinks that they need to buy your product to make their lives better. Certain PCs in NZ can be bought much cheaper than Macs initially ( which is why I have one) they are also sold in every major appliance and electronics retail store which means that you are more likely to by a PC as your first computer and that PC will be running on Windows because that is what PCs run on.
The first rule of selling a product in retailing is t make sure that you have your product on the shop shelf where the customer can see it when they walk into the shop. Most people I see walking around appliance retail stores at the weekends are just regular people looking to by a home PC, maybe they use one at work and know how to do basic stuff on it. They want a PC for home connected to dial up internet with Windows pre installed and what ever games that come loaded, a printer a suitable harddrive , CDRW and a 17 inch monitor and thats about it becasue thats about all they know.
A couple of the stores that I regularly walk into at weekends ARE also authorised Apple resellers but the Apple rep never visits, the have a laminated A4 sign advertising the new G5 range on a desktop and maybe an iPod locked in a display case. One store has a lone G4 iMac at the front of all the PCs showing spec sheet and a hefty price tag of $2499 NZ. Now it MAY BE the most stylyist computer in the store with the best operating system but to the majority of PC buyers it runs a different operating system that they may not know how to use and it is not cheap and there are cheaper sub $2000 NZ PCs in the store. The Cheapest eMac sells for about $2000 NZ i think, thats about $1000 US

 

[Steven1621]

HP at 31%!?!?!?!?! that says a lot about the sorry standards of the computing public. i have owned an HP and they simply aren't good computers. Sure they can be pretty cheap so many people have them, which explain why it is high on this rating.

 

[iPC]

HP - cool F1 cars in their ads

Gateway - cows

Dell - dude! (now those annoying interns)

Apple - funky ipod ads (trying to be hip)

This is really just a indication of how memorable each companies ads are right now. Apple might have mind share, but nobody really knows what they are trying to sell other than iPod/iTunes.

The look and feel number really shows how clueless people are when it comes to making major purchase decisions.

 

[MrMacMan]

How about 'PersonShare' thats what matters...


Also Which computer companys merged?

Hello... they should be the same #...

Also... who did the polls go out to?

"Does Microsoft make computers?"

 

[babydoc]

B.S. Poll

Well we know this is a totally B.S. poll if the look and feel of the computer were rated as most important....

...and HP, GW, and Dull were the top three choices?

These are obviously inconsistent facts thus it must be a B.S. poll

 

[ntg]

As far as my experience goes, the only common factor I know from personal bitter experience is the level of after-sales service ability of the top three. I also recall a survey a couple of years ago where Gateway & Dell were jostling for the #1 spot in repair ability AND quality of repair - we purchased a load of Gateway laptops, and I have NEVER purchased one since!

Nig.

 

[visor]

What a strange world it has become.

Look and feel of a computer most important...
very strange. all my computers hide away under the desk, or even better - in the closet. What would I cae about look and feel of the computer.
OK, a nice monitor and very good keyboard and mouse are important, but of the machine itself, I'd only ask that it is quiet, fast and cheap

 

[visor]

Re: Re: OMG!

Originally posted by winmacguy
Now it MAY BE the most stylyist computer in the store with the best operating system but to the majority of PC buyers it runs a different operating system that they may not know how to use and it is not cheap and there are cheaper sub $2000 NZ PCs in the store. The Cheapest eMac sells for about $2000 NZ i think, thats about $1000 US

Very nicely said. It's so much easier to keep a customer than to aquire a new one, so once one bought and worked on a winpc, it will be very hard to make him switch.

Just look at what a powermac costs. 1600euro. That would be the most adequate solution for upgrading a not so old PC.

I've just recently upgraded a PC, and it cost about 150euro. about one tenth of a new mac.
OK, it's not quite as potent as a G5, but it suits my needs perfectly, and I could just buy it without thinking about the money.

 

[trose]

What a strange world it has become.

Look and feel of a computer most important...
very strange. all my computers hide away under the desk, or even better - in the closet. What would I cae about look and feel of the computer.
OK, a nice monitor and very good keyboard and mouse are important, but of the machine itself, I'd only ask that it is quiet, fast and cheap

I have always been one to argue that.

People wan't their appliances and furniture to look good. We are human, sight is our primary source of input, and we like things to be appealing to that input.

We only got into this "Computers must be ugly" ideology because before they were in homes, they were big clumsy machines in the offices and science labs. It has been hard to shake that, but once again, Apple leads the way in innovation.

Do you wan't your home to look like a cubicle? Of course not.

A Computer is something many of us spend alot of time around, it is a centerpiece of our home and life. Naturaly, it should be easy on the eyes.

 

[loneAzdgari]

I really don't see that much of a price difference between mac and PC consumer machines. I have a £1000 budget on a new mac or PC and I looked at Dell as the main competitor to the Mac.

I configured an eMac and one of the Dell desktop ranges to see how much I could get for £1000. It was pretty close, I could get an eMac with 1GHz G4, Radeon 7500, 512 MB RAM, 160GB HD, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth and a stand.

On the PC side I could get a 2.8GHz P4, 512 MB RAM, 120GB HD, 802.11b wireless (not 802.11g), Radeon 9800XT and no bluetooth.

Considering the style of the eMac range plus the ease of use compared to the Dell, its pretty even. The 1GHz G4 and Radeon 7500 may be no match for the 2.8 P4 and Radeon 9800XT but the eMac is good enough for some casual gaming.

I can understand why people choose PCs over Macs, but i don't understand why so many do.