What does 3% market share mean...

[petee]

There is an oft quoted statistic stating that Apple has 3-5% market share. What does that mean? Does this mean that 3% of all computer sales in a given year are from Apple? Or is this an estimate of the total number of Apple computer users (worldwide, national, etc.) in a given year?

So, what, in your humble opinion, is the estimate for total percentage of computer users that are Apple users?

It seems to me that if is the sales per year (most likely the 'real' meaning of the stat) then in any given year, the total number of computer users that are Apple users should be more than 10%-20%. Now Windows would have about 80% of the computer users, while Apple and Linux would make up the rest.

What are your estimates and remember that anecdotal evidence is usually next to useless. (i.e. every one I know owns a Mac therefore the percentage is 100%.) And is there any published stats out there that would be helpful.

Why is this information helpful? Because like Ghz, market share quotes on durable items can be misleading. Few people can buy a new computer, car, vinyl siding, etc. every year. Trends over a longer period (say three to four years) of time would seem to be more helpful and can negate statistical "noise" like economy in recession, new product releases etc, fluctuations in component prices (memory, LCD and other components that affect the price of the computer).

I would appreciate thoughts on this.

 

[ftaok]

The market share that you see quoted so often is based on sales of computers for a particular quarter. The numbers are updated every quarter (fiscal). Companies like Gartner are the ones that collect this data.

BTW, I'm pretty sure that generic boxes sold by indepent PC makers aren't counted. They only count the computers sold by the major computer manufacturers. This would only dilute Apple's numbers even further.

BTW2, the market share number does not necessarily mirror the percentage of Macs in use compared to the total number of computers in use. If someone did put together something that could calculate this, I would guess that number to be around 10%. I base this on guesses and the fact that Macs tend to last longer. Plus a little voodoo.

 

[jefhatfield]

i recently heard someone say their recent share was 6-7% percent but i wonder what they mean by recent?

wall street journal is so dark on apple it is depressing...i think apple will survive as long as there are people like us who are devoted to the mac...even if we are just a few percent...too many people i know have never even once tried a mac

in the 70s and 80s, most people i know at least tried one in school, but now, most schools where i live, not too far away from apple, use pcs and most businesses, well you know the story