‘Course, According to Hollywood, Apple’s Market Share Is More Like 90 Percent
John Locke (played by Terry O’Quinn) and his Apple II in ABC’s “Lost”
“Because they’re the super-small-market share guy, they get all these statements about them.” Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates said that about Apple back in 2005. And while it’s essentially still true, it’s less so than it has been in years past. In separate reports today, research houses Gartner (IT) and IDC (IDC) both note that Apple has climbed to third place in the desktop market in the U.S. Gartner figures Apple’s share of state-side PC shipments for the second quarter of 2008 to be 8.5 percent, up from 6.4 percent in the quarter a year earlier. IDC pegs it at 7.8 percent for the second quarter this year, up from 6.2 percent in last year’s second quarter. And that puts the company in third place in the domestic PC market–ahead of Acer, if you believe Gartner. And in fourth place behind Acer if you believe IDC.
Not that it matters all that much. Because regardless of whose metrics you prefer, Apple (AAPL) still lags far behind the two PC sales leaders. Dell (DELL) is still the No. 1 seller of PCs in the U.S., with 32 percent of the market according to IDC. HP is No. 2, with 25 percent. And in terms of worldwide sales, Apple hasn’t even cracked the Top 5. Yet.
It’s definitely No. 1 in Hollywood though, as critic Roger Ebert noted a few years back. “Macs turn up in the movies all the time–not so much because of product placement, but because so many movie people use them and like them,” Ebert wrote. “A historian of the future, counting all the on-screen computers between 1983 and today, would likely conclude that Macs represented 90 percent of the computer market.”
Comments
How about a survey of user satisfaction? Where would Dell, maker of the world’s worst computers, place then??
Posted by David Owens at July 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pmAnd how about a survey of the biggest 2 digit Microsoft tootsie roll sucking, Apple hating blogs on the net? All things Microsoft would do really well.
Posted by zato Gibson at July 17th, 2008 at 5:53 pmWhat counts in business is profit margin, customer satisfaction and growth potential. In these areas that are key to a company’s future, Apple always reigns number one. Profits fuels a company’s future and their meager market share provides absolutely immense growth possibilities.
Buy a Dell computer if you wish, but buy Apple’s stock.
Posted by Bill Tallent at July 18th, 2008 at 6:14 amLet’s not forget that in terms of profits, Apple’s profit margin is massive. They made 25 percent of all profits from computer sales last year. And they own 66 percent of the market for PCs costing more than $1,000.
That’s a pretty good position to be in. The fact that Dell made less money with four times the number of computers sold is pretty pitiful, really. Not to mention in customer satisfaction Dell is dismal while Apple is on top.
As for Hollywood, does anyone else remember in the first season of 24 that the good guys all used Macs and the bad guys (and gals including Nina) use PCs?
Posted by Eric Welch at July 18th, 2008 at 8:04 amDavid, according to Frost & Sullivan in their latest survey, one-third of the consumers surveyed named Dell desktop products as the overall best brand. And the nearest competitor wasn’t even close - with 18 percent. Notebook users said the same thing, with nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the survey respondents naming Dell as the Best Notebook Brand. This leads me to believe Dell’s customer satisfaction is now higher than Apple’s.
Posted by Allahu Akbar at July 18th, 2008 at 8:54 amThat’s because they limited their survey to Dell owners.
Posted by David Owens at July 18th, 2008 at 10:58 am