Mac Market Share Update

[gekko513]

For all those that don't care about marketshare you got another thing coming to you.

Developers develop a lot more for Windows than Mac, and even when they develop for Mac, it is second class. Go buy a new printer or mouse--the driver is better for Windows than Mac.

Mac needs marketshare for the #1 reason being development.

Apple has taken two drastic measures in the last year: 1. Move to Intel; (2) Bootcamp.

This is a start, but they to take more drastic measures. I see 2 possibilites.:
1. Let OS X run on any current PC
2. Licensure of OS X

You have some very good points. While I think Apple and OS X will chug along just fine without doing any of those two, I think the platform could benefit from a tightly controlled licensure scheme.

Even a 1-2 percent point increase in installed base for OS X would make the platform much more attractive to developers, and with the right kind of control of the licensure of OS X to third parties they can avoid cutting into their own hardware sales.

I'm thinking it could be a good idea to let some company like Dell offer OS X as an option beside Windows XP Professional (which is a $149 option up from Home edition) on selected low and mid-range mini-tower models.

 

[javierbds]

About licensing OS X

The people that want OS X on any hw are most probably Linux losers oops , I mean users ... (Putting on flame suit).

Apple is a 'whole cycle-experience' company: hw + os + user apps + pro apps + services.

If OS X is sold for non-Apple hw the retail price would have to be SIGNIFICANTLY higher and they would have to remove added sw from the offer (you can no longer leverage on hw sales to develop the OS).

The sure way to increase market share of OS X is the sure way to kill OS X:
Putting OS X on el-cheapo PCs is the same as giving it away for free ... El-cheapo owners DON'T BUY anything, they would not even pay for their PC if they could. This would NOT increase developed sw, it would make it diminish (and piracy would be king, perhaps the hidden agenda of some proponents) ...

If people develop for OS X is for some differentiating reasons on the type of users OS X have. They may not be more than 5% of the whole computer user community of the world but they are the 5% they are interested in ...

Nobody forces somebody to buy a Mac, it is a quality decision.
Nearly everybody feels forced to buy some cheapo PC with internet and some office apps ...

To those that want to be market leaders in volume: return to your Windows world ...

 

[Analog Kid]

That is not suicide. That is making Mac OS X the number 1 OS on Earth. But Apple must do it before it is too late.

See my post above-- it's suicide. How long do you think Apple can survive without revenue? Jobs has a rough idea of what would happen, he saw what happened to OS X when it was NeXTSTEP.

 

[Atlasland]

But what I think is now the best kept secret is that Macs run Windoze natively - which is huge... Even Apple is doing all it can to keep this a secret notwithstanding Boot Camp assistance.

That's because BootCamp is beta.

Wait till Leopard. Then it'll all kick off...

 

[Evangelion]

I suppose suicide is always an option, but I don't think it's gotten that desperate yet...

Linux market share is 0.4%, right now.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=2

It depends. The market-share figures for Linux seem to be changing all the time. Sometimes it's put at around .5%, other times it's around 2-4%. it depends on who makes the estimate and how they make the estimate.

That said, I foresee that Both Linux and OS X will gain huge amounts of market-share in the next few years. Apple makes kick-ass computers that everyone wants to own, and through that, they get exposed to OS X. And over the last few years Linux-folks have been plugging the shortcomings of Linux at a trendemous pace. First people complained that it was difficult to install. Today that's not an issue. Then they omplained that it has no proper GUI. It has great GUI's these days. Then people complained that it has no apps. Today it has loads of kick-ass apps (apps for mere mortals that is).

And considering that Vista is something like this, I don't see a bright future for Windows. Yes, it will be hugely successfull, objectively thinking. But when compared to previous Windowses, I think it will fall short.

Mark my words: heads will roll at Microsoft

 

[fixyourthinking]

Concrete Market Penetration

I wish someone would do a "well done" "well balanced" survey not based on quarterly sales of Macs, but on actual usage. I would gaurantee that Macs as a whole in the US are in the double digits as far as usage in the US and somewhere around the mid single digits worldwide.

 

[BenjyD]

Reasons

As long as enough people know about it to keep Apple in business, I could care less. Well kept secret Macs are.

OK, here are some reasons that larger Apple market share would help you:

- Larger market is more attractive to developers. That means more software, more competition and lower prices.
- Better hardware support. With a larger market share, the days of "sorry, we don't support mac" would be over
- Web: the final death of things like IE-only websites etc.
- A more peaceful world as cases of computer rage drop ;-)

Yes, life as a Mac user is pretty good, but a larger market share would make it better.

 

[BenjyD]

Anyhow, I walk into the school computer store yesterday and browse at the new black MacBook, and the first I notice is how slow Safari took to load a page (google.com/ig).

According to some actual benchmarks, rather than your anecdotal evidence, Safari/MacOSX is significantly faster than IE/WinXP.

 

[SPUY767]

Marketshare or no, Apple's still a more valuable company than Dell who claims to have something like a 15% marketshare. Just because the vast majority of Americans don't understand a value proposition, doesn't mean anything to Apple. Apple is an interesting company in the business world. Apple is immune to disruptive business competition. Dell has essentially painted itself into a corner with its business model, and now no one takes it seriously as anything other than a peperweight with a CPU.

 

[Evangelion]

Marketshare or no, Apple's still a more valuable company than Dell who claims to have something like a 15% marketshare. Just because the vast majority of Americans don't understand a value proposition, doesn't mean anything to Apple. Apple is an interesting company in the business world. Apple is immune to disruptive business competition. Dell has essentially painted itself into a corner with its business model, and now no one takes it seriously as anything other than a peperweight with a CPU.

Um, that's not quite true. Dells ARE used for many "enterprise"-tasks, so they are a bit more than "paperweights with CPU's". Like it or not, many businesses run on Dell-hardware. A lot more than Apple-hardware.

And Apple CAN be harmed by "disruptive competition". Why do you think they switched to Intel? Do you forget the late nineties when Apple seemed to be doomed? If Apple was vulnerable back then, what makes you think it's not vulnerable today?

And besides: market-capitalisation:

Dell: 59.52B
Apple: 52.88B

So Apple is NOT "more valuable company" than Dell is.

 

[Soli Gratia]

The beauty of Apple

As a new "switcher" , (which is apparent by my title of macrumors "newbie" ), I must say several of the points that have pointed out as reasons why Apple is failing (OS X limited to Apple Computers, Apple's small market share, etc.) are all reasons why I decided to switch.

The biggest attraction for me (apart from the beautiful designs of my friend's Apple computers), was simply the fact that, unlike Microsoft, Apple was not solely a software company. For some reason it excites me that there's a computer manufacturer that makes everything (hw + sw). Call me crazy.

Another big attraction for me (and I realize this is not the most logical of reasons to purchase anything, much less a computer) is simply the fact that Apple is NOT a huge market share holder. Everyone has a PC. Everyone has a Dell or HP or Gateway, why not be different and get an Apple?

Just a few thoughts.

 

[ArchiMac]

Longevity of Apple hardware

I may be a minority ,
but.. I have been using a 1ghz G4 for 3 years now for intensive CAD, 'Photoshop'ing and 3D (arch. only!) modelling tasks. I may well have bought a new computer in that time, should I have felt the need, but this little baby has worked really well. Point: mac consumers buy (probably) 3 x less computers than their counterparts. This would critically influence 'market-share' statistics.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

US marketshare = lots of stores, and growing everyday.
Worldwide marketshare (particularly Europe) = a lack of Apple stores.

Catch my drift! In Ireland not one Apple store. Now how does apple expect to sell lots of Macs here with no stores. It's simply not possible.

I'm am fairly pissed of about this, what's keeping apple!!! Apple we need at least two stores here for a start, followed up by about 10 more over the next 3 years.
(There's iPod's everywhere here, but Mac's are a rarity)

 

[Gasu E.]

As long as enough people know about it to keep Apple in business, I could care less. Well kept secret Macs are.

I agree. I think Apple has established a distinctive niche in which it is the clear leader. In that regard, it is in a strong position.

The flaw in the marketshare data is that it is not broken down by segment-- it portrays the PC market as monolithic. We know that ain't so. If, say, market share was provided for the following segments

Creative
Home
Education, K-12
Higher education and research
SMB
Enterprise IT

The Mac is a non-player and no-hoper in Enterprise IT, which (I'm guessing) is 70-80% of the PC market. It's more interesting to see how the Mac is doing in areas where it can compete.

 

[morespce54]

Gisele will save us.

LOL

Yes, I can't wait for the "Gisele Halo Effect"...

 

[Evangelion]

Catch my drift! In Ireland not one Apple store. Now how does apple expect to sell lots of Macs here with no stores. It's simply not possible.

There's exactly zero Apple Stores in Finland. Yet buying an Apple computer is very easy. First of all, there's the online-store. Second: there are several retailers here that sell Apple-hardware.

You do not HAVE to buy your Macs from Apple Store. You can get it from the online store as well, or from some other retailer.

 

[SPUY767]

Um, that's not quite true. Dells ARE used for many "enterprise"-tasks, so they are a bit more than "paperweights with CPU's". Like it or not, many businesses run on Dell-hardware. A lot more than Apple-hardware.

And Apple CAN be harmed by "disruptive competition". Why do you think they switched to Intel? Do you forget the late nineties when Apple seemed to be doomed? If Apple was vulnerable back then, what makes you think it's not vulnerable today?

And besides: market-capitalisation:

Dell: 59.52B
Apple: 52.88B

So Apple is NOT "more valuable company" than Dell is.

Well, you know as well as Everyone else in this forum that I'm talking about consumer PCs. The market cap thing fluctuates, as a matter of fact, Apple gained 2 billion in market cap yesterday alone, and I Believe that as little as 2 weeks ago, apple's market cap was higher than dells. Dell's stock is stagnant, Apple's is not. And you clearly aren't understanding my meaning when I talk about disruptive competition, but I'm not going to elaborate here, cause the threads don't allow enough text.

 

[Evangelion]

Well, you know as well as Everyone else in this forum that I'm talking about consumer PCs.

And there are millions of consumer-Dell's being sold all the time. Do you seriously claim that those computers are totally and completely useless?

The market cap thing fluctuates

How can you then claim that Apple is worth more? Apple did surpass Dell for a while some months ago, that much is true. And I wouldn't be surprise if Apple surpassed Dell for good in the months to come. But as things are right now. Dell is worth more than Apple is.

 

[Gasu E.]

I know this is all anecdotal, but a 'no market share growth' statement doesn't jibe at all with the reality I see around me. I would believe a .5 or 1 percentage point increase (though even that seems too low to me), but I don't believe for a second that there's been no growth.

That's the whole point-- your circle of friends is not a random sample of the PC market as a whole; you are part of a small subsegment. I work in the IT industry and as I read through these forums it is clear that only a tiny minority of the participants have an inkling of how PCs are purchased by big business. Believe me when I tell you that no amount of advertising or any other tactic within Apple's control will ever get them back into the mainstream of IT. That shipped has sailed, and only a total, unpredictable technological paradigm shift could ever turn that around. Apple's strength and opportunity is in niche markets which include creative, K-12, and home. So share of total market is an extremely crude measurement of success. I would be much more interested in seeing how Apple has been doing in the Home market anyway. That's the only place the "halo" effect could have any value, and that's likely where your buddies reside, achmafooma (I'm guessing). I don't think any IT director is going to drive his company to "switch" just because he's plugged into iTunes.

 

[SPUY767]

And there are millions of consumer-Dell's being sold all the time. Do you seriously claim that those computers are totally and completely useless?

I'm saying that the market is not the same. Dell customers typically want the absolute cheapest thing that meets their needs. Barely. Apples customers seems to want something more.

How can you then claim that Apple is worth more? Apple did surpass Dell for a while some months ago, that much is true. And I wouldn't be surprise if Apple surpassed Dell for good in the months to come. But as things are right now. Dell is worth more than Apple is.

Some months ago? Apple has been on top of dell for a few months and actually a recently as the 17th of May where Apple's cap was 55.3b and dell's was 52b. And as you said, they will probably pass dell for good quite soon. Don't misinterperet my statements. I simply don't have time to sit down and justify everyting in every one of my posts. I am a very busy man.

 

[Evangelion]

I'm saying that the market is not the same.

You said that Dells are "paperweights with CPU's". As in: useless. I'm disputing that claim.

Some months ago?

Yep. Apple surpassed Dell for a while, but then Dell surpassed Apple again. But they have usually been just few billions apart from each other.

Apple has been on top of dell for a few months

Doesn't seem like that now.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

There's exactly zero Apple Stores in Finland. Yet buying an Apple computer is very easy. First of all, there's the online-store. Second: there are several retailers here that sell Apple-hardware.

You do not HAVE to buy your Macs from Apple Store. You can get it from the online store as well, or from some other retailer.

There's not one retalier here in Ireland that sells the latest Mac's, only the last generation, i.e. no MacBook's or MacBook Pro's or Mac Mini (IR). OK so there's the online store here, but the only people who know or are interested in it are Mac fans. What about everybody else!! As in the people who go to the local P.C. world to decide what computer they want to buy, they can't say "oh look there's a MacBook, that looks very nice" Then the ask the sales person and he informs them that apple computers are different than all other computers, as in they're easier to use! /Out comes the credit card.

 

[drewyboy]

For all those that don't care about marketshare you got another thing coming to you.

Developers develop a lot more for Windows than Mac, and even when they develop for Mac, it is second class. Go buy a new printer or mouse--the driver is better for Windows than Mac.

Mac needs marketshare for the #1 reason being development.

Apple has taken two drastic measures in the last year: 1. Move to Intel; (2) Bootcamp.

This is a start, but they to take more drastic measures. I see 2 possibilites.:
1. Let OS X run on any current PC
2. Licensure of OS X

Which is better I don't know, but without trying this, the Mac is doomed. Apple of course is diversified and would still survive!

Bah, ppl have been saying that's apple's only two options since os x came out. I say they know how to hold their own, and I am very against then letting it run on crap PC's. 3 simple reason.
1. Pirating
2. Virus'
3. Drivers

I do not want to have f'd up driver problems like windows always gives you trying to keep up all 3rd party joe shmoe drivers up-to-date. Plus, I've paid the premium price for the "Apple Experience", so I don't see why any punk kid that pulls a $300 dollar computer out of his butt should be able to put the superior OS in it. I say apple should keep the OS to themselves, because I see absolutely no reason they should release it, cuz when that happens, it takes a big selling point of their computers away. Plus i think Steve likes that their computers are more of an "elite" circle. And when i say "elite" i don't mean performance wise, I mean exclusivity.

Edit: I just realized something, due to circular reasoning, apple have become "elite". They are more exclusive because of their price, and are more pricey because of their exclusivity. Hmm.... I smell a conspiracy

 

[miketcool]

the only people that care about market share are financial analysts.

i could look at those results and go "hey, did you know nearly 9 out of 10 people who own computers *do NOT own a Dell*?

but imagine, if you will a meeting at Ferrari:

Luigi: Listen, we gotta up our market share. we got likea what, .24%?
Marco: Well, it's more like .15%.
Luigi: What?! how we gonna corner the auto market with number like that?
Marco: ...Corner the market?
Luigi: Yeah! why else would we be in the car business?
Marco: uh...to make high-quality, high-performance, legendary machines?
Luigi: fu*$ that! we gotta compete with Ford!
Marco: FORD? Luigi, you gone-a crazy!

Hey! Lets be fair here. The guys in charge of Financial strategy at Ferrari in Europe are Giancarlo and Amedeo, not two stereotypically generic Italian names. Didn't you learn about the extreme nature of dynamically ethnic names from modern classroom textbooks? And that dialogue! People always seem to imitate italians with the super mario brothers theme song going on in their heads. If only this was a speakeasy 80 years ago this would have been settled with a simple hand gesture...

 

[sushi]

If PC shipments are increasing, then I'd expect Apple's to follow the trend.

But its not.

According to the article, the PC market is expanding (increasing).

Apple has maintained it's market share. This means that Apple is expanding as the same rate as the market which is fantastic.

Of course it would be nice if they expanded a little faster and therefore increased their market share.