Mac OS continues to gain share

For a long time, Apple had an informal marketing slogan "5 down, 95 to go" referring to its percentage share of the computer business.

We gave them a hard time back then, because they didn't even have the 5 percent market share they were always talking about. These days, though, they have well passed that number and are inching closer to 10 percent, at least in the U.S.

While Windows certainly still dominates the computer market, Apple's operating system continues to gain market share. Just released second-quarter market share figures from Gartner show Apple shipments up 38 percent, to 8.5 percent of all units shipped, up from 6.4 percent a year ago. IDC had Apple's gains somewhat lower, at a 7.8 percent share, up from 6.2 percent a year earlier, but the trend is the same.

"They've got great products and they are executing well," IDC analyst Loren Loverde said in a telephone interview, adding "they are benefiting from the excitement and press over their other products."

Microsoft is working on a multiyear, megamillion-dollar marketing push for Windows and, as the numbers show, it can't come soon enough. Apple's gains on Windows are particularly painful given that U.S. computer shipments only grew 4.2 percent, again according to Gartner.

Worldwide shipments fared better, up 16 percent for the quarter, and of course Apple's worldwide share is far lower than its domestic one. Despite Apple's U.S. gains, its worldwide market share was 3.3 percent in the second quarter, according to IDC. That's down slightly from last quarter, but up from 2.9 percent a year ago.

Loverde said Apple would have to continue growing really fast for some time to move ahead of Toshiba and crack the top 5 in global sales.

[john55440]

HP continues to be the worldwide market share leader, and Apple continues to be in the Others category, behind at least five other companies.

[sciontcya]

What a windoze fanboy. Can't take good Apple news, eh? Get used to it.

[Zimm2]

John,

Have you bought HP lately? I very disappointed to say that I don't believe that they will be the leader for long...

[technewsjunkie]

You'll have to do better than that john55440.
It changes what? The article stands. Macs are growing at Windows expense.

[john55440]

HP continues to be the worldwide market share leader, and Apple continues to be in the Others category, behind at least five other companies.

[Zimm2]

Have you bought HP lately? I very disappointed to say that I don't believe that they will be the leader for long...

[Penguinisto]

Given the longevity of OSX' growth - that is, it's staying power so far, I doubt that it won't take too long for Apple to break 10% - probably by the end of this year (using Gartner's number as a base, otherwise call it "end of Q1 2009" using IDC's figures).

[Kwasiowusu]

Apple?s worldwide market share especially in huge new markets like China, Brazil, India and Russia, where by far most of the new PC shipments growth comes from, continues to fall. China is already the second biggest PC market on the planet. In 2 years time, China would have overtaken the US as the biggest PC market on the planet, and from there, will be selling a heck of a lot more PC?s every year to their 1.3 billion people, than PC?s sold in the US. After that we have India which will next overtake the US in PC sales. Good news is, Apple?s market share in China, which is already tiny, continues to fall even further. It?s no use Apple increasing market share in the already mature US market, while they play an insignificant role in China, Brazil, India and Russia and other huge fast growing markets.
Windows rules now, and will continue to rule for the foreseeable future.

[Kwasiowusu]

Ebay tells you that Apple has a bigger share than the thoroughly researched figures from Gartner and IDC does it? Tell me, hom many Macs are sold in China(the second biggest PV market on the planet, and soon to be the biggest PC market on the planet)? 72 million PC's were sold on the planet last quarter, how many of those were Mac's?
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080716/tec_pc_shipments.html?.v=4

[Penguinisto]

Kwasi... you're an idiot. Do you even have a clue as to what you're talking about? It appears not in the slightest...

[Kwasiowusu]

I am an idiot? That coming from a guy who claims that his looking at Ebay gives him better figures of Apple worldwide market share than the very acurate figures from Gartner and IDC, just makes me laugh. Lemme know when you get back from Apple cultland dreamworld, and get back to reality.

[The_Decider]

Kwas, you are an idiot.

Where does your rambling diatribe about ebay factor in?

[bgnm]

New shipment data always misses the fact that because older Macs retain their usefulness longer than PCs, installed base numbers are even more favorable for Apple.

[DrtyDogg]

is that a fact?

[Penguinisto]

Judging by a quick check of public sources (e.g. eBay), I can say for certain that Macs do retain their resale value far longer than PC's do. A typical four-year-old PC (say, a P4m w/ 256MB RAM, a 64MB vidcard and a 40GB HDD) goes for roughly 1/10th to 1/50th of its original purchased value, if you're lucky. Meanwhile, I can see 4-year-old 1.8GHz PowerMac dual G5's (with typical specs) going (even today) for ~$650.00 (incl. shipping), or roughly 33% of their original retail value of $1999.99

Check for yourself on eBay, Pricewatch, or a whole host of other online markets out there for 2nd-hand goods.

I can personally vouch for having sold a 2000-era $2500 G4 Cube in 2004 for $800, or 32% of what I originally paid for it from Apple.

The resale value reflects a computer (or any item's) continuing usefulness... and Macs win that contest hands-down. I think the old Sun Sparc 5 machines are the only computers that lose resale value faster than a Dell or HP...

[Kwasiowusu]

Ebay tells you that Apple has a bigger share than the thoroughly researched figures from Gartner and IDC does it? Tell me, hom many Macs are sold in China(the second biggest PV market on the planet, and soon to be the biggest PC market on the planet)? 72 million PC's were sold on the planet last quarter, how many of those were Mac's? http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080716/tec_pc_shipments.html?.v=4

[Penguinisto]

Learn to read Kwasi (oh, and post, too... this explains the incoherent gibberish you've posted elsewhere). I said that resale value is indicative of long-term usefulness. The rest is you pulling assumptions out of your nether-regions. ;)

[Kwasiowusu]

Ebay is indicative of nothing. Ebay doesn't tellk you how many PC's are being sold in the huge Chinese market, a lot of which are not even connected to the internet, ;et alone doing deals on Ebay.. FACT: Worldwide, Apple's market share actually fell in the last quarter from the quarter before, despite an increase in Apple US market share. That tells you Apple is doing badly in the huge new markets like China, India and Russia. As those markets get even bigger, Apple's worldwide market share will only get even smaller than the current tiny 2.9%.

[DrtyDogg]

My question wasn't about the already proven fact that macs are overpriced, even second hand, it was about "Macs retain their usefulness longer than PCs," As that is complete baloney. I know in of many PCs still in use today by large businesses that are 10 years old or older. And in the home too, I only have one PC that is newer than 8 years old. Though both laptops are from the last year.

[Penguinisto]

prices themselves have no factor - it is the retention of value as a percentage that counts. If something is useless 4 years hence, then its going price will be a smaller fraction of the original than an item whose usefulness is greater. Macs hold their value better than PC's (as a percentage, not as an absolute price). QED - Macs, having a longer value life, are in service longer as they are more highly valued at age.

Does that help any, folks?

[Penguinisto]

PS: China is a strawman, since their market has only recently begun to grow.

[DrtyDogg]

Here's an interesting take on ebay 7.8% of all computers on sale @ ebay are Macs, Kind of puts that right in line with the market share numbers.

[unknown unknown]

Apple's installed base is probably already at or over 10 percent. Market share is a function of sales (market sales over total sales revenue).

[spark9991]

are you still lauding apple market share, 31 years after they failed to win the pc war? come on, they missed the opportunity...why not write about zenith data systems or the sinclair?

[Perry_Clease]

The war isn't over yet.

[Penguinisto]

Bad news, spark... battles have come and gone, but until PC's become transcended by something else entirely, the 'war' is not over, and never will be.

[AndrewRich]

I "switched" last weekend, prompted by a Pepsi Syndrome incident which destroyed my trusty four-year-old Dell Inspiron 600m. I am finding myself really very happy with OS X and the MacBook Pro. Things that take effort on Windows just -happen- on the Mac, without thinking, leaving me free to work with the computer instead of fighting it.

[bgnm]

My employer, a university-affiliated research lab, had one Mac from 2003-2006. (I was my company-issued laptop.) Now, approximately 30% of new computers are Macs. And the big Wintel suppliers are giving us incentive to make that even higher. A shipment 2 weeks ago of 10 units from #2 was 70% defective out of the box. Four would not work with their wireless keyboards, and 3 would not boot.

[sciontcya]

Yep. Tell that to HP boy at the top! LOL - Apple isn't perfect, but much better than most.

[Vegaman_Dan]

And you could repair any and all of those systems there on site resulting in minmal downtime. As for the Macs- those need to go to a service center with no ETA on return. It could be a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months. Businesses simply cannot afford that level of service. They need to be able to count on systems being available and that service model simply isn't acceptable today.

[The_Decider]

Vegehead,

Yeah they could IF they had the parts.

And does that excuse the 70% failure rate they experienced? In your rotting brain it seems to.

[Penguinisto]

Dan - not if it's a laptop ;)

[Get_Bent]

The Macs better be more reliable, for their 50% - 100% higher cost over equivalent Windows machines.

[applusr]

@ohn55440

WE can't save everyone.

[skillingssucks]

And in other news...
8 in 10 Businesses Use Macs, Study Says
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/147708/8_in_10_businesses_use_macs_study_says.html

[timber2005]

Which form a statistics standpoint means two key things.
1) They use at least one... but it could just be one.
2) 2 in 10 use NO macs at all!

[Vegaman_Dan]

Stats, like this article, can be twisted in any way you want them to read. Microsoft, in fact, uses Macs. They have several hundred.... but they have tens of thousands of PCs'. That doesn't really say much now, does it? Look at the percentage and you'll get a better number. Of any buisiness that has Macintosh equipment on site, how much is Mac, Windows, or Linux? THAT would be a much more realistic number survey.

[skillingssucks]

Statistics are statistics, what gets "twisted" as you say, are the interpretations. Having said that, it's pretty obvious that you didn't read the article. Otherwise, I challenge you to explain juist exactly what was "twisted". In any case, you lost all credibility here on this site when you recently and so bogusly claimed that the Mozilla Foundation actively encouraged people to download multiple instances of Firefox in order to set a record.

[bgnm]

In times past, people would have said that RCA had won the TV war, Enron had won the energy war, GM had won the car war, AOL had won the internet war, etc. etc. Remember, Greece once ruled the world, then Rome, ...

[Kwasiowusu]

I remember Greece and Rome alright. I also remember that Apple used to be the biggest PC seller on the planet...until Microsoft Dos then Windows based PC?s came and took out Apple. I am also aware that that up to 72 million PC?s were sold worldwide in the last quarter alone.:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080716/tec_pc_shipments.html?.v=4
Out of that 72 million, Apple sold??wait for it?a measly less than 3 million. You see Apple?s market share in the fastest growing big new markets like China and India, s far lower than in the US

[wango2007]

Why wouldn't Macs sell a little better now? ... the trend has been up since they started running Windows. People want the be able to use the many specialized software only available for Windows.

Face it, most software companies don't write for Mac and those that do, including Adobe, release the Windows versions first. They all know where the money is.

[skillingssucks]

Are you still slinging that same tired b.s.?

[sciontcya]

Your name is "wango" I'd expect nothing less...

[kelmon]

Question: if all the software that we need is for Windows, why would Macs that allow running Windows contribute to an upswing in Mac sales? Surely the Mac sales figures would remain static if the Mac software was not important since a Windows PC would be less hassle when running Windows software, and cheaper to boot?

Basically, the logic here does not make sense. The opposite logic makes more sense - that people are buying Macs to run Mac software but are using Windows as a safety net. Still, there is no denying that the Windows market is the most important, currently.

[MarkKB]

@kelmon:

Actually, I think what wango2007 is saying is that people are buying a Mac for the *hardware*, not the software or OS. It'd be like someone buying a Compaq computer to install Linux, or something.

Not saying that's true, just saying that to state that the " logic here does not make sense" is a fallacy.

[Reloaded2010]

Of course the forced retirement of Windows XP and widespread dislike of Vista will only add to Macs increasing marketshare.

[squarf]

The naysayers and grouches obviously do not own a MAC computer. The i-Macs are flawless, dependable, glitch-free and truly elegant. When the have-nots finally obtain one they will be thunderstruck at the aggravating nonsense they formerly put up with... and the smooth and quick efficiency of the MAC products. Until then, expect a lot of grousing and snarling from the disavantaged and ignorant.

[wango2007]

Possibly the arrogance associated with Jobs, Mac, Mac ads and Mac users are a barrier to increased Mac sales. Many of us reject the arrogance and reject the product.

Regardless of what zealots say, it is a Windows world, and Apple is not going to make a big comeback after losing out for 30 years now.

[Kwasiowusu]

Out of the 72 million personal comoyrers sold last quarter o9n the panet, how many were Mac's?

[Dalkorian]

You winblows trolls responding really crack me up. Go scan you machine for viruses, I fear you might have caught something from your computer and it appears to make you look stupid.

[Kwasiowusu]

In other words, you have no answer for my question, and have fallen on the normal Apple fanatic technique of lashing out.

[The_Decider]

What is a "comoyrers"?

[The_Decider]

How many people read Star?

How many people bought the last Hannah Montana CD and DVD?

Using that argument Kwas shows exactly were your mindset is.

[wango2007]

Apple makes more money selling iPods and iPhones and that's their core business now, not computers. They lost the computer wars over 30 years ago.

[sciontcya]

Wango wango wango, give it up.
Delude yourself, but please, go home.
MS is in bad shape - yeah, they own the PC world now, but who would buy stock in MS? Not me!
I've made a small fortune on AAPL.
Bye

[kelmon]

Probably not. Apple certainly sells about 5-times as many iPods as they do Macs but the profit margin is much higher on a Mac than it is on an iPod. Given the increasing sales of the Mac (up 51% from last year) the reverse looks more likely, depending on the impact of the iPhone, since iPod sales are not increasing at the rate that they used to.

I think we can safely say that the computer war will never end. Certainly Apple has lost battles but history and Microsoft's attempts at self-destruct show that nothing is forever.

[ferricoxide]

I have an MBP provided for me by my employer. For what I use my MBP for, about the only thing that currently sets OS-X apart is TimeMachine. Mostly, what it makes me realize is, if I were spending my own dollars, I would probably buy a no-name system and run Linux on it and use VMWare or Cross-over for any Windows-specific applications that I absolutely *had* to run. Don't get me wrong: the MBP is a very nice computer, but it's not *so* nice that I couldn't do without it. Notice, you aren't hearing me say that I'd get a Windows system, though.

[sciontcya]

Hey Wango, read this:
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/17891/

[Sumatra-Bosch]

I'd say if you divided that between desktops and laptops, desktop Macs would still be under 5% and laptops 10% or better. Walking through an airport today is like being in the middle of a Mac advertisement.

Also, it would be interesting to look at what those machines boot. I dunno how many people I've talked to over the last year are booting straight into XP or some version of *nix under VMWare on MacBook Pros or some configuration of desktop Mac.

Still, it is a shame to think that every time someone buys a Mac Ballmer eats a live kitten but that is the reality of the marketplace.

[Sumatra-Bosch]

I'd say if you divided that between desktops and laptops, desktop Macs would still be under 5% and laptops 10% or better. Walking through an airport today is like being in the middle of a Mac advertisement.

Also, it would be interesting to look at what those machines boot. I dunno how many people I've talked to over the last year are booting straight into XP or some version of *nix under VMWare on MacBook Pros or some configuration of desktop Mac.

Still, it is a shame to think that every time someone buys a Mac Ballmer eats a live kitten but that is the reality of the marketplace.

[Vegaman_Dan]

The article keeps switching between OS and hardware. I wish they would really go back and concentrate on only one thing at a time. They talk about the OS share of Windows and OS X, then at the end say how much more Apple needs to improve to catch up to... Toshiba? Please- *please* rewrite this article. RIght now it's so full of mistakes as to be pointless.

[skillingssucks]

The only pointless thing here is your level of reading comprehension. I suggest going to a site a little less challenging for you, Sesame Street, perhaps?
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/