A recent article from Fortune really makes it clear that the majority of people who go out to buy a computer have a budget of under $1,000. It also makes it clear that Apple is seeing pretty significant growth. Let me explain…
So far in 2008, Apple’s market share in the big scheme of things is 14%. While that number may not be HUGE, it is a number that has continued to grow over the last few years. What’s more impressive is when you take a look at Apple’s market share of computers sold that cost over $1,000. There they stand at a whopping 66% and if you break it down, it’s 70% of desktops and 64% of notebooks. While we knew that Apple was experiencing some pretty impressive growth, never would we have thought that they commanded 66% of the market for the “premium” computers.
Two-thirds is the magical number here. Two-thirds of all computers priced above $1,000 are Mac computers. To put this into perspective, just two years ago their market share of computers over $1,000 was just 18%. Talk about growth! So what would it take for Apple to increase their market share in the under-$1,000 category? Well for starters, they would have to expand their line of computers to include more that are priced under $1,000. As it stands, the only computer that you can by from Apple under $1,000 is the $599 Mac mini which doesn’t give buyers much choice. On the other hand, maybe Apple has no desire to try and command the under $1,000 computer market?
Thanks for pointing up Apple’s share in US. Worldwide, they are little to unknown.
Really, at least 90% of computer users live in other countries, and Apple has little to no impact in those countries.
Brazil, population: 180mi. If I say mac, people don’t even know what I’m talking about.
Everything other places of world hear from Apple is iPod and iPhone.
They don’t give a shit to my country, I won’t give a shit to them. And it will always be like this. They’ll never go anywhere if they only target the US, which seems impossible given the number of Windows and now Linux users out there.
Don’t confuse yourself with US numbers. Oh wait, US couldn’t care less about the rest of the world anyway… do as you wish.
What’s the point of your comment? I’ve read it several times but can’t get the message.
Statistics are just numbers explaining situations in order to make educated decisions. They aren’t targeted at any given country.
Pointing out*
Oh, and now that I read it again it seemed I was angry with the post =P I wasn’t
Apple having such a share proves that people will pay a premium for shiny things that only have one button. Their 64% laptop share is down to the fact that other laptops that expensive are surely intended for gaming rather than work and they won’t sell much.
Apple does care about the rest of the world. Their OS has been available in many many languages for a long time, their site is available in many languages as well. Here in the Netherlands, we have Apple stores everywhere and we’re just a tiny country.
Nevertheless, you are right that these numbers only reflect the situation in the US. It would be nice to know how Apple is doing around the world as well of course
W3Counter is saying the following for last April:
1 Windows XP 78.56%
2 Windows Vista 7.34%
3 Mac OS X 4.89%
4 Windows 2000 3.14%
5 Linux 1.89%
And that is just Apple’s share in total, not in the sales of 2008, which will be a lot higher. So I expect them to be quite similar (though not as high) as in this post based on those numbers..
All in all, I think these numbers are really impressive and show that Apple is on the right track. Seeing them more and more around me here too.
All this shows is that Apple computers cost more.
After all, how many Apple computers are there that cost less than $1000??
To suggest that 66% of US servers are apple servers is a joke.
Apple are such a silly company in some ways, brilliant in others. If only they had some pricing adjustments, they’d command more market. They don’t need to gouge, but they do. It’s why I love their products, but will probably NEVER buy anything from them. I wonder how many think the same way?
Victor, I think you may have jumped the gun here a little and maybe missed the point of this article. One of the biggest conclusions I made after reading the Fortune article, that I was trying to convey here was that the majority of people who are purchasing computers are choosing models that are priced under $1,000. That seems to be the magic number for consumers. Sure Apple, in the United States, may command 66% of the premium market but in overall sales, they still sit at a measly 14%. If they want to see their numbers increase overall, they’re going to have to consider offering more options in the under $1,000 range. They’ll also need to place an effort on global sales.
Unless the general population one day decides that they prefer computers that are priced over $1,000, Apple will probably remain steady with the overall market share that they currently have at 14% in the United States.
Sure it points out that Apple computers cost more, but it also shows that despite that fact people are willing to pay the price. Which can obviously not be said for other companies (like Alienware) who also have a rather large selection of computers priced over $1000.
I was the same way for quite awhile, but when you look at the resell value of their computers it is much higher than a PC. So it’s kind of like an investment, albeit an expensive one.