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Apple's US Market Share Slips in 1Q 2009
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That's not what I said.
A mac can run mac apps straight out of the box.
A windows machine can run windows apps straight out of the box.
A linux box can run linux apps straight out of the box.
A PS3 can't run apps from any of the three straight out of the box. Thus, I don't consider it a PC.
Frankly, I find it pretty bizarre that anyone is trying to argue that a netbook is not a PC but somehow a PS3 is.
I buy a netbook and can't install Cubase (doesn't meet minimum requirements). Does it stop being a PC? Of course not.
The point I'm trying to make is that the definition of a PC is not so black-and-white or as simple as you would like it to be. There are some devices that fall into a gray area of being a PC or not.
I'm not arguing that at all. Just pointing out that your definition makes absolutely no sense. Try to look at it logically:
A mac can run mac apps out of the box, so therefore it's a PC
A windows machine can run windows apps out of the box, so therefore it's a PC
A linux box can run linux apps straight out of the box, so therefore it's a PC,
A PS3 can run PS3 apps straight out of the box, so therefore it's a _________
Come on, I know you can figure this out. Give it your best shot.
But there are plenty of PC apps that you can install. Take a PS3 out of the box and you can install zero windows (or mac, or linux) apps.
I'm not sure what devices you have in mind in that "grey area".
Ah, I see where you're going.
People consider mac, windows, and linux apps to be computer apps.
People don't consider PS3 games to be computer apps.
Do you honestly think a PS3 is a PC, or are you just having fun playing with semantics?
What's Dell's excuse then ? They lost almost 16% market share, even though they offered and sold the "flavor of the month" netbook ?
I think it's a good job by Apple to have shipped as many PCs as they did Q1 2008, despite the economy. Their share slipped not because they sold less computers, but because the competition sold more. The Netbook is very much the cause of this increase in sales, because people with a computer already are also getting a netbook.
Dell and HP constantly cannibalize each other's share. It depends on who offers the best corporate deals at any particular time and right now that's HP.
Maybe the reason Apple's "market share" (quoted because it seems to be more determined by sales) is the fact that Macs tend to last longer, and Mac users keep their computers longer. I've bought two new laptops in the last six years, because the hardware does not get outdated as quickly. My dad, who uses Windows, has bought about five new laptops in the last six years (maybe more).
While a Mac might cost more (although I'm having a hard time finding a PC comparable in specs AND quality), it will also last longer (at least three years on a laptop).
While a Mac might cost more (although I'm having a hard time finding a PC comparable in specs AND quality), it will also last longer (at least three years on a laptop).
Perhaps a device that doesn't come in a box?
Edit: Or perhaps a device that doesn't run Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. But is still a PC.
Wait, HP gained 400 units and Dell lost 800. How is it that HP cannibalized Dell ?
The fact that the Netbook market boomed in a big way also just simply increased the entire market. Then the economic downturn shrank it back down. Apple remained stable through these, so in a sense, they showed a progression since they never got the increase from netbook sales in the first place.
That's the point, you can look at these numbers and see that Apple did a pretty good job. Could they have done better ? Sure. Could it have been worse ? I think that's a definite yes too. Let's just be happy for them they managed to even out in these tough times.
I think there is more of this than we realize. This is why Apple needs to make a killer tablet/netbook.
I see netbooks as being more for lying on the couch reading email, websurfing, accessing web accounts - no heavy stuff. I see it as a compliment to a Macbook or an iMac ... I would NOT have a Mini 9 INSTEAD of a Macbook!
The aluminum MacBooks are killer.
Is it really so hard to figure out?
A DIY PC. Brand new (your so-called "out of the box") you can't run Windows or Linux (or even Mac OS X) apps on it. You first have to install a "PC" OS. But it's still a PC, right? Now how different is that than the PS3?
And yes, I am arguing semantics.
No, you can install PS3 apps. It's a PS3 after all. What did you expect ?
And you're wrong about Linux, you can install Yellowdog Linux on your PS3 (without any kind of hacks) and then install any Linux app.
If you're building it yourself, it won't do anything until you finish putting it together, and installing the OS is part of that assembly. Once you finish building it (including installing the OS), I'd consider it to be "out of the box". You're just doing what they do at the PC factory in your house, and the end result is the same.
The PS3 comes out of the box completely ready to function as a box that plays console games...if you want to run linux, you have to hack it.
Sorry, but I still don't see a PS3 as a PC but not a netbook.
Part overall decrease in market volume - for desktops mainly - part cannibalization of Dell sales by HP.
They increased a segment of the market.
They did. Apple have actually done pretty well here. That said, so have HP given that cannibilzation of their business seems to have been relatively minimal according to Ted Clark.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hp-exec-talks-netbooks-touch-windows-7-and-cloud-computing
This not surprising at all. Apple's been making mistakes as of late, and they aren't keeping up- no netbooks, dropping firewire from MacBooks. What will they think of next to shrink their share?
I expected exactly that, that you can run PS3 apps. I'm not the one arguing that the PS3 is a PC.
Thanks for the clarification. It still requires having to install an additional OS. And considering how few PS3 users end up doing that, it would be a negligible number if counted within a PC market share study.
Please tell me you're joking. What exactly would someone with a netbook buy that would cost an extra $1000? A LCD TV plus DVD player so you can watch DVDs (since netbooks usually don't have optical drives)? Seriously, what extra items/software/peripherals would you have to buy for a netbook that you wouldn't have buy for a MacBook out-of-box?
Exactly my point, Dell had an overall and very bad quarter compared to its competitors.
And when a segment increases, the entire market does. A whole is nothing more than a sum of its parts. So the netbooks did have an impact on overall market share, especially if you weren't in the netbook arena at all (like Apple).
Now it would be nice to have numbers for the netbook segment, to see how much they grew the market and so that we can understand how much the non-netbook market shrank.
Of course HP had the Netbook sales to help with their increase in market share and units shipped.
Dell just has no excuse here, they did very poorly, even though they had the Mini 9s and other very popular product lines.