Survey: Apple, Dell compete for holiday shoppers

Apple's MacBook, shown on the left, and Dell's Studio 15, at right, are vying for consumer attention this holiday season.

Two-thirds of prospective PC buyers in the U.S. plan to buy either a MacBook or a Dell laptop this holiday season, according to a study released Monday by ChangeWave.

ChangeWave's survey of 3,699 consumers found that of those looking to buy a laptop over the next 90 days, 33 percent indicated a preference for the Mac, and another 33 percent said they would buy a Dell. The survey cited Apple's recent MacBook redesign and Dell's reputation for value as the driving forces behind those results, but notes that Dell's consumer business only accounts for about 20 percent of its overall sales. No one is having a good year selling PCs to businesses, according to ChangeWave.

And unfortunately for both companies, the number of consumers looking to buy a new computer is smaller than it has been during past years. Most years, the holiday season is easily the most active period of the year for Mac or PC shopping, but ChangeWave's research indicates that just 8 percent of respondents plan to buy a new laptop this time around, down from 11 percent last year.

[john55440]

There's a huge difference between a survey of potential buyers, and actual sales. It's a safe bet that HP will continue to outsell Apple.

[Tom Krazit]

Worth pointing out again, as well, that this is only a measure of U.S. buyers. HP does most of its business overseas.

[john55440]

I don't have any USA-only notebook numbers, but according to NPD-Displaysearch's latest numbers, HP has a 21.4% North American Notebook Share, and Apple has a 10.6% North American Notebook Share.

As for total personal computers, according to IDC's lastest (Q3-08) numbers, HP has a 25.1% USA share, and Apple has a 9.1% USA share.

[artistjoh]

And your point is?

To quote figures of past sales in relation to an article about intentions to buy is of limited value. A similar statement could easily have been made a quarter or two ago about the iPhone and Blackberry. As we now know the iPhone beat RIM even though RIM had almost doubled their sales.

In a volatile market only time will tell who the winners will be this coming holiday season. Dell appears to be resurgent at a time when HP lacks the cool factor for the segment of the market that may well perform better than the segments where HP has traditionally done well.

And of course Apple has been on a roll with consumers for a few years now. Few remember now, but the iPod was launched during an economic downturn yet quickly exceeded all expectations.

Economic turmoil makes for shaky ground for so-called safe bets.

[hawaiiinsomniac]

I'm treating myself to a Macbook this holiday season. I just haven't decided which configuration is best. The only that could probably sway me is an awesome deal on Black Friday, which of course Apple doesn't participate in.

[Timothy01]

Apple usually discounts the notebooks on black Friday anywhere from $50 to $100 dollars. This is the only time of year that Apple puts their computers on sale.

[ballmerisanape]

macs are pc's too.

[Seaspray0]

they can be, however you would need to purchase microsoft's operating system to do that.

[Penguinisto]

We'll see folks - we'll see.... :)

/P

[Seaspray0]

Yes we will. I will make one guess. Due to the economic downturn, I project that I'll see laptops in the $900 USD or less range dominate with over 90% sales of all laptops sold in the US over the holiday period. I won't bet on that guess; it's just what I think may happen.

[zincmann]

I dont know about anyone else's experiences with Dell product but I AM looking to buy a new laptop this christmas and it WONT BE A DELL. I had a Dell Desktop Dimension 8100 and a Inspiron and the build quality was junk, the desktop was noisy because of a poor fan shroud design and the laptop was overheating because of poor processor ventilation and the case had stress cracks. So DELL=Junk for me. I recently bought an HP Desktop and will be buying an HP Laptop this christmas.

[Ipopngraphics]

Ok Apple people, don't hit me... but I have to agree with zincmann on the HP Laptop. Although as a designer I use Macs exclusively (running Windows on one of them so I can open Publisher files), my daughter wanted a Windows laptop so I bought her an HP for Christmas last year. It came with Vista installed, and it has been absolutely fantastic in performance and taking the abuse of a 14 year old. It was a "last year's model" that I got for $700 at CompUSA. Very well put together and so far no issues with Vista.

[digiprod--2008]

Dell Vs Apple! Gee I wonder who that will turn out?

Michael Dell needs to give his stockholders back their money

[SuttoXXX]

I personally feel Dell and HP will dominate this holiday season purely on price. The price premium for Apple products will have a MAJOR impact on holiday sales this year. And BTW, Dell dominates US marketshare with almost 30%. Didn't see that menioned anywhere. And I really like some of their new products (Inspiron 9 and Studio line of laptops).