Remember back in the 90s when you’d try to get your pal/parents/teachers/parole officers/congressmen/body piercers to “switch” to the Mac camp, and their reason for not was because of marketshare? Validity of that claim aside, you might want to have them try again.
Apple claimed a whopping 10% (ok, 9.9%) of retail laptop sales in March of this year. When you consider how many brands of laptops there are, it’s significant. And as Apple doesn’t have nearly the market footprint of others, like Compaq, it’s even more telling.
When combined with desktop sales, then Apple reaches the ranks of the top 5 retail PC manufacturers for March, a place it hasn’t been in years.
The question is: Can Apple maintain the momentum? We’re guessing yes, because this looks very much like a “halo effect”, does it not?
Apple snags 10 percent of U.S. retail notebook sales in March [Apple Insider]
The spike in market share correlates directly to being able to run windows. Plenty of people need windows for work, software they bought, etc.
I personally don’t see this as significant to sway people to switch OS’s (the fact that Mac can run Windows aside). 10% is still 10% in my book…..
Also…. I am considering an iMac setup that runs Windows XP with one core and MacOS with the other…. or even better a quad core if they had it with two each….
My 2 cents….
I see what he’s saying here. I’m a pc user, but i’ve always thought about a mac, but the fact that everyone I know uses a pc and had pc software made mac seem like a different universe. Now every time i go to a starbucks, I see glowing white apple logos on laptops. That makes me want one right there.
Nice work btw, crunchgear. I love what you guys are doing.
@James Talvy:
The amount of cores in the computer has nothing to do with it’s ability to run more than one OS. A single core mac is perfectly capable of running Windows and OS X side by side.
@OP:
10% market share may sound impressive but let’s not forget that the remaining 90% represent a single platform that is competing against Apple. Apple may claim to be first and foremost a hardware company, but that doesn’t really matter to the majority who views it as a Windows vs. Apple question.
While Apple may be having the moment of it’s life, it is IMO still a fragile position they hold.
Thinking about what most of you said. I do think the ability to run Windows play a decent part in people buying more Macbooks. If I were to buy a Macbook, I would do so knowing I’m planning to run Windows on it and only dabble in OSX…cause its there…. not the other way around.
If apple considers itself a hardware company, and using the mentality I mention above, then this is also benefiting Microsoft, because many will be buying a Macbook and a “RETAIL” version of Windows XP or Vista to run. Good for both companies, but doesn’t taste as great as you’d think for the Mac fans.
Don’t forget, these numbers do not include Dell sales.
Frankly, this chest thumping is typical of Mac addicts and is based on incomplete data.
Chest thumping? lol
Anyways, I don’t really think Apple products are that great or that bad. All I know is that in my final year of university (two years ago) I convinced my dad to buy some Apple stock. We’re talking about a time when stock in the company was around 70 bucks (in Canadian Loonies, I think we bought at 67).
Please, do what CrunchGear says and convince all of your “pals/parents/teachers/parole officers/congressmen/body piercers to “switch” to the Mac camp,” because I want to see Google sized returns on that junk.
PS:
“Now every time i go to a starbucks, I see glowing white apple logos on laptops. That makes me want one right there” is maybe the gayest (I’m talking rainbows/unicorns gay) thing I’ve ever read on this site.
@Matt in Berlin
If he bought a lot, come June he will be a wealthy man. Until everyone realizes how much hype the iPhone is. Act quick.
Ilya… word. I already programmed Pops, and he knows that the iPhone is basically just a product like a million other ones out there (except that it’s made by Apple), so when the time comes, like say after every Mac geek has bought one and 30-40 of North Americans who like their iPod that much to try the iPhone, he’s out. I actually think the iPhone is going to be a bit of a disappointment, but that’s just because I’m a diehard skeptic. I mean, the company where I work here in Berlin managed to put an N95 on my desk, and this thing is craaazy. The only thing it doesn’t have is a flux capacitor.
those who don’t know their history…..
go read one of the millions of threads from when the iPod was first announced and mentally replace iPod with iPhone and the similarity will knock you over…..
….and 5 years from now when the thing has 40% of the phone market and everyone is looking for the “iPhone killer” the few of us with a clue will be laughing our collective asses off.
the most important fact here, is that it i only for USA market.. in the global market, Apple is around 7% and of that 10-20% are running windows in them….
I think the spike correlates to a spike in population of idiotic mactards who don’t understand that they are buying a brand, that they can find better value elsewhere, and that Apple is an effective marketing company, not a great tech company.
If you want a good laptop, you have to buy something asian. Taiwanese. Asus.