March 18th, 2008
Apple sales soar to capture 14% of US PC retail sales
Mac sales have now soared to account for 14% unit share and 25% dollar share of all US-based PC retail sales, that’s according to market research firm NPD.
Here’s a breakdown of the data:
- Mac unit share up from 9% in Feb 07 to 14% in Feb 08.
- Mac dollar share up from 16% in Feb 07 to 25% in Feb 08.
- Notebook unit sales up 64% (compared to 20% in the retail segment as a whole)
- Notebook unit revenue up 67% (compared to 11% in the retail segment as a whole)
- Desktop unit sales up 55% (compared to -5% in the retail segment as a whole)
- Desktop unit revenue up 68% (compared to -2% in the retail segment as a whole)
The take away from this is simple - if there’s a smell of recession in the air, the stink hasn’t got as far as Mac buyers that yet. Fear that the economy has gone soggy isn’t having any negative effects on Mac sales at all. Apple once again demonstrates that it is capable of outperforming the rest of the PC industry.
So, what’s behind this?
- New lines
Apple has bought out some seriously sexy products over the past few months (for example, the MacBook Air), and these are likely to be fueling sales. - Marketing
Apple’s high-quality, focused marketing strategy is very successful at generating a buzz when new products are released. Also, by focusing away from the technical aspects of line upgrades, Apple doesn’t fall into the same trap that most other vendors do, that of “same basic system, only slightly faster and with slightly more capacity.” Apple presents each line revamp as an evolutionary step (no matter how small that step might be in reality).
Also, let’s not forget that Apple enjoys a lot of free publicity - mainstream media is full of “Mac yack” and Apple chatter which does the company no end of good. - Mac vs. Windows
Apple has taken the negative vide surrounding Windows Vista and spun this into an “us vs. them” marketing message that seems to be working very well.
Apple’s on a roll. It took the success of the iPod and transformed brand awareness (people knowing about iPods) into company awareness (people knowing about Apple) and then used that to cross-sell Macs to a whole generation of users who, a few years ago might not have heard of Apple or the Mac OS. All of which is just as well really, since iPod sales are now becoming somewhat spongy, not because of the economy but because of saturation (hands up who wants and iPod but doesn’t have one yet …).
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Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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| 03/18/08
