RSSApple computer sales seen surging in US, Acer also strong
By Ed Oswald | Published July 17, 2008, 12:07 PM
While the company has yet to make a mark among worldwide computer shipments in either major survey of the PC industry, it continued to show impressive strength stateside. But Acer is #3 or #4, depending on whom you ask.
In the Gartner survey, the company gained two percentage points of market share year-over-year to end the second quarter of 2008 with 8.5 percent of the market and a little under 1.4 million units shipped, good enough for third.
Numbers from IDC told a similar story, with Apple's market share up 1.5% to 7.8% of shipments, and 1.33 million units shipped -- and fourth in that survey. In either survey, Apple failed to register among the top five manufacturers in terms of shipments.
Acer also showed some strength, but the two surveys showed divergent results. IDC claimed Acer had an edge of 2,000 units over Apple for the third spot, with a 7.8 percent market share but up 50% year over year.
Gartner told a completely different story. It pegged Acer's shipments as shipping 351,000 fewer PCs in the US in Q2 over the previous year's quarter, down 20 percent, and as having 8.1 percent market share. It should be noted that the shipment estimates were essentially identical in both surveys.
Last year, Acer resorted to acquiring other brands (Gateway, eMachines, Packard Bell) to move up the list, while Apple made its way solely on its own.
Worldwide, HP led in both surveys, with Dell leading US shipments. Overall, the two companies had growth in the PC sector pegged at around 16 percent.
In the IDC survey, among US shipments, Dell was followed by HP, Acer, Apple, and Toshiba. The Gartner survey was nearly identical save for the flip of Acer and Apple. In both surveys worldwide, the order was HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, then Toshiba.
"Despite the economic headwinds, the PC market continued to show its resilience," IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker head Loren Loverde said. "Nevertheless, economic pressures are mounting and PC market growth is expected to decline over the next year. The relatively strong PC market in recent quarters does not mean that the sector is immune to the changing economic environment."
Gartner added that if the top companies continue to squeeze the smaller ones by using competitive pricing, a new wave of consolidation among those smaller vendors could begin to occur.
"The retail space was a harsh pricing environment during the quarter," Gartner client computing group principal analyst Mika Kitagawa said.
Europe and the Middle East were seen in both surveys as helping to buoy growth worldwide. Growth in the Asia-Pacific reason has slowed considerably, and North American shipment growth is down in the low single digits as well.
I'm well aware my friends of the issues raised here, however, much as Apple is despised (none more so than me)!
I must support their rights, 'tis a form of DRM, albeit in a very loose scope, but as you guys would know by now!
We don't even need "INTENT" any longer, ya busted!!!
Cheers,
Dan
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|Apple #4, Interesting.
I guess that blow their suit against Psystar for damaging Sales.
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|I don't think international pricing is the key to Apple's success.
Apple 'simply' needs to do something to allow and encourage Windows users who are not willing (and I don't blame them) to make an investment of $1000+ for the smallest MacBook JUST to TRY OSX which they Still perceive as a RISK as they Already have a 'perfectly good' Windows box with which they are familiar.
The price of entry/migration is PERCEIVED as too high for those who are not already converted, or who simply do not yet appreciate the value of running THEIR choice of multiple environments either simultaneously or singly.
Sounds just like why most of us who are content with the known in the form of upscaled DVDs have persisted in holding off running out and buying a new $400 Sony Blu-Ray player or a PS3!
Its deja vu all over again!
Releasing a Dell-like (ok, ok, ouch!) generic commodity based component machine of reliable industry commodity components aka what Dell offers for $700-800 and offering an UNSUPPORTED (meaning get on the web and talk to your local users group and don't call or gripe to APPLE for help if you have trouble on your non-Mac labeled hardware) would allow Windows users to try it.
If they don't like OSX, fine. Apple makes only $129 off them! If they do, when it comes time to invest in a new machine, they will have a compelling reason to buy the version of the PC that runs both OSX and Windows and Linux as they choose as they will appreciate the value this offers them. And once they like OSX and the additional functionality Apple applications and native Windows and UNIX compatibility can afford them, they will find the Macs not quite as daunting an investment.
Apple is currently playing a game similar to Sony (while not quietly hemorrhaging money like Sony!). Simply saying Blu-Ray and the PS3 are technologically superior is NOT a compelling reason in the minds of users of the alternatives (upscaled DVDs and a Windows/Linux box) to invest!
Provide an opportunity to truly try and become familiar with OSX at a lower cost of entry, and their next machine most likely will be one that can run their choice of environments along with OSX while not losing their investment and perceived need to have Windows accessible. They will have a compelling reason to want the additional option.
What is sad is that the only ones who do not trust OSX to generate sufficient interest are the geniuses who claim to be the biggest fans of the Mac - the Apple upper echelon!
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|It would be pointless for Apple to sell a cheaper machine or allow OSX to run on cheap hardware. Certainly they could attract a lot of price-sensitive Windows users, but too many of their current Apple customers would buy cheaper machines instead. The result would be less profit, and more need for tech support because instead of selling $1000 machines they would be selling mostly unreliable $500 machines.
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|More need for tech support...
Apple has one of the lowest incidence of the need for teh support in the industry. Hence why only the PC mags complain about the short user support period compared to the typical Windows PC support period and the users don't.
They already sell a cheap $600-$700 machine - the Mini - but its not exactly sufficient to drive a traditional Windows users fancy. And the current Mac users ALREADY have that option and are not looking for the cheapest option - instead they are overwhelmingly opting for the laptops or the larger iMac. And there is NO necessary reason for commodity priced components to be less reliable. They just not constitute the fastest gaming rig on the planet! They are not reinventing the wheel here! There are already plenty of reliable less expensive examples of PCs!
And if the machines selling for less, using industry standard commodity parts are so unreliable, perhaps all of the owner built and cheap PC users would be wise to upgrade to a higher priced model Mac immediately!
Unfortunately far too many Windows users do not agree with you, nor do they here as each time Mac prices are mentioned, legions complain that they would rather purchase the "lower priced" non-Apple hardware that is readily available.
Besides, this could be as simple as repackaging the Mini-Mac into a slightly larger case that allows for greater internal expansion and overcomes the old perceived notion that the Mac is not expandable because the Windows folks traditionally haves added components internally to the case, whereas the plug and play Apple crowd have traditionally daisy chained the additional devices via SCSI, Firewire and USB.
So its "Pointless" to capture the market segment they heretofore totally miss, which will then reduce the risk of folks who would not by a Mac then establishing a compelling reason for the users to upgrade to a better machine for the use of both Windows and OSX?
Perhaps you're right(?) More customers means more support. (Despite the assumption that is Not born out in a linear fashion in Appleland as with Windows)
So lets continue along that il-logical path and discontinue the Mac altogether and eliminate the need for customer support and they will have succeeded in conquering the market. ;-)
Pennywise and pound foolish.
If Apple can't cobble together a reliable entry level machine for a profit, suitable for multiple OSes, maybe they should contract with someone like ASUS and have someone who knows how to do it take care of the task...
Obviously Apple now doesn't desire the additional marketshare and the substantial derivative profits from such. Yet one wonders why they are concerned about market share at all. At least we know where the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz was able to get a job...in Apple's strategic marketing division.
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|You have a lot of good things to say foxfyre but is it really necessary to write a book each time you post?
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|Yes.
I am just the medium - the words come from much higher powers and I type what they tell me to type.
In fact, I am often occupied with getting a cup of coffee when the messages arrive. Its eerie. ...Sceerie too. I just type what the voices tell me to type...
Scoobie doobie doo...
(I would have used "boogie oogie oogie", to quote Groucho Marx, but I suspect that too many would totally miss that... ;-)
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|cheaper hardware that kills your iMac and even the Mac Pro
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|Apple has one of the lowest incidence of the need for teh support in the industry.
Wrong topic, but this is because of their closed platform (no Mac Clones).
They limit the hardware it will run on, drastically minimizing their support costs.
Good for them. Bad for anyone who *won't* buy pre-built. ;)
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|Its all Intel Roadmap compliant.
And its fact. We can spin it however you like, its fact. Yet all the mags can do is whine that its not 2 years like on other PCs - despite few if any needing more than 90 days! And the Mac users DON'T complain! So I love the manufactured problem based on "if the other PC users need it on their machines, you must need it on the Mac" nonsense.
Apple can extend that to their own low cost of entry commodity model as well, with the same reduced support demands by using the same standardized commodity parts benefiting in their increased economy of scale - they buy more, they can source them for even less, and their total cost per unit goes down!
Or better yet, simply release OSX UNSUPPORTED (run to your local users group like the Linux folks rave so highly about!). If you demand to run it on OTHER hardware of YOUR choosing - meaning you are supporting it!, Enjoy! Have you ever called MS and tried to actually get help on an owner built whitebox? And why do the PC manufacturers all have such an array of pay for support programs? DUH!
And if you don't like to support it yourself, run it on tested, verified and supported hardware!
Why do we still have such a hard time with the concept of the meaning of "supported"!? ALL manufacturers - especially in the IT world have this policy!
"Supported" simply means that the particular hardware has been tested and verified to work! When you color outside the lines and use unsupported hardware, you are using equipment that has not been tested and verified and hence is not been certified to be compliant. Hence, it is in the grey area. It may work great, but if it doesn't, don't blame the manufacturer for your choosing an unsupported (refer to the original definition!!!) device or component and don't demand the company solve the problem of your (and another manufacturer's) making.
And the concept of support is an even BIGGER issue with the HIGH END IT systems! How come IBM won't solve a problem originating with a properly functioning OS command call to Oracle, who fails to respond correctly? The command works fine in the IBM environment, and the customer can't create a test case where it fails independently of Oracle. So its IBM's job to troubleshoot Oracle???? Yo mama!
This victim mentality is amazing. And catchy!
People have a choice (and they should with OSX as well!!!)
But I must admit to getting tired of the 'we want it both ways' argument by the same apparent offspring of the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz regarding the support issue.
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|There's still the problem of the "It Just Works" mantra.
Unsupported hardware won't "just work".
Apple would lose its "shine" in moments.
Not the end of the world, but considering the weight of ages put behind that mantra, there'd be some serious PR damage.
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|Still a problem? With whom?
The same idiots who claim it doesn't work now?
So we should worry about folks who insist on buying unsupported product that discover that its unsupported and complain about it?
Sounds to me like social Darwinism works.
At some point you explain the concept clearly up front and you accept that a portion of the world are idiots and that they will unfortunately remain idiots.
Remember, these are the same idiots who know that Windows has all sorts of compatibility issues and still gladly assert its qualities as they masochistically deal with it.
Maybe it would help to pre-emptively distribute signs or buttons with unsupported copies of OSX for unsupported hardware for these idiots to wear so that we can have sufficient warning before dealing with them?
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|Okay...
Just relax a moment and come down from the ideals into reality. Not for long, you can jump right back up there, but just humor me for a moment.
Perception is reality.
Simple as that. You and I and most folks here know that as untrue (usually the exact opposite), but that just plays into my point.
Current perception: Macs just work. It's been drilled via marketing into the greater public for ages.
The perception *will* change if Apple allows Mac OSX on unsupported hardware. You have to realize this or we might as well simply stop discussion the topic altogether.
Apple *needs* that perception to sell their product. It's a friggin PC now. There's nothing, other than "it just working" (presumably better than Windows) to differentiate it (a Mac PC, which most folks are not familiar with) from a Widnows PC...something most folks are familiar with.
Once the unsupported systems start shipping, problems start making tech headlines and MSFT starts milking that fact (..and they *will*), that mantra, that "it just works" perception, dies.
Then what?
Buy a supported Mac? A system you are *still* unfamiliar with that is now known for causing headaches (they won't make the logic jump from supported to unsupported...) or a Windows PC...something you've already learned to live with?
Sure, it's nice to think people can handle the difference between a Mac and an unsupported Mac, but to the public, it will simply be a PC running Mac OSX, and the reality is that they simply won't think about it long enough to realize their is a difference.
The perception of the mac clones as troublesome will be the perception of the Mac.
Maybe it would help to pre-emptively distribute signs or buttons with unsupported copies of OSX for unsupported hardware for these idiots to wear so that we can have sufficient warning before dealing with them?
Well, at least you can see the absurd measures Apple would have to take to avoid the PR/marketing (and thus sales) hit they'd end up taking otherwise.
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|You make a valid point regarding the Apple Macs - they work.
I still think that you can sell OSX for the PC that is even entitled "UNSUPPORTED OSX that will probably have some compatibility problems on Your NON_APPLE box."
And for the masses for whom that is still just too complex a concept, Apple could easily mod the Mac mini with additional slots for RAM and a video card - a limitation that has prevented me from getting several for dedicated applications!
Personally, I think they should add the $.37 mod to the Mac Mini and enlarge the case by 2 inches in length. They already have that intro machine provided it can accommodate Windows and its greater resource needs.
You then have a supported platform that a Windows user might be able to relate too. Maybe they can even add a "random reboot feature" and a "blue sleep screen" to make the Windows folks feel more at home.
The point is, like with Blu-Ray, if they want to capture the Windows folks, they need to make the transition smoother - or radically revamp their educational spot eschewing less elitism (like Jobs will do THAT!!) and cater more to the Windows folks who still need a bit (OK,OK, A LOT!) of hand holding and convincing to understand that the Mac IS just a fancy PC that can run other OSes. In other words, he PERCEPTION of RISK for the non-Mac folks HAS to be mitigated. (Heck, we Still have folks who routinely miss that point Here!)
...As Apple, has still done an absolutely lousy job of communicating - and as too many of the wizards in the Windows world still fail to grasp.
Perception is reality, and perhaps the biggest obstacle, rather than simply making the OS available to the geeks, is to simply COMMUNICATE better with the market and to offer machines that solve issues the Market faces at various entry points, rather than simply offering models in an attempt to tell us what we should be doing with them.
But then, as fundamentally common sense as that may be, Apple has NEVER done in 25 years, and I have pretty much abandoned hope of them ever doing...
And the more I think about it...the more I quite frankly wonder why I even hold out any hope...as these are the SAME @$#% issues faced 25 years ago!
;-) :-(
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|I just got a macbook pro.
So far I love it in comparison to the PC laptops i have had in the past. Cost a pretty penny but worth every cent.
They have a winner with their products they just need to come to the plate with the combatability issues.
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|"combatibility" indeed!!!! LOL!
I think you have hit on the term for the session!
Apple has some great products at some very competitive price points for branded pre-assembled computers, but simply preaching to the Apple choir doesn't significantly increase product sales or increases in market penetration. And only those who are sufficiently convinced that the platform offers significant advantages are 'crossing over'.
They just need a method to alleviate the anxiety many who have not used the Mac before have about paying what is perceived to be a lot of money for what is perceived to be a 'risky' experiment! And its actually easy to do.
Well, it is for anyone other than the elitist megalomaniac running Apple.
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|Its going to be interesting to see if Apple addresses international pricing to grow market share as there's plenty of interest in the brand but not in paying 30% over US prices.
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|Many around here got Macs this year. All of them are saying all they need a computer for is web surfing and some word processing and they like to supplement it with iPhones and iPods. Apple really is on to something with consumer(izing) devices. At least some US shares are performing well...
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|Alas, some of us actually want and need a MORE powerful quad core Nehalem based laptop with upgradable graphics - and I don't care if it weighs an extra pound or two and isn't .25 inches thick!
I just need the functionality of a desktop workstation and the ability to move the d@mned thing!
Is anyone listening?
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|Amen and here here to powerful computing. I just got into video editing, and just couldn't imagine doing it on about any laptop. Give me versatility, flexibility and let me choose my components.
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|Yeah me too, although Core 2 is pretty close to what I reasonably need right now. Otherwise it just gets gridded out onto some blades and that will take some time to condense into a laptop...
Nevertheless the comment was about those of my friends who I regard as average consumers in terms of computers, not the tech needy...
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|"Last year, Acer resorted to acquiring other brands (Gateway, eMachines, Packard Bell) to move up the list, while Apple made its way solely on its own."
And therein lies the beauty of Apple's growth.
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|The Acer brand (not the others it owns) made big improvements in Europe I do believe. Of course buying the others helped though.
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|That's a good observation and something that will likely be missed when looking at Apple's growth.
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|With the combined economies of scale between their various brands, they have the potential to reduce their prices while standardizing on the most reliable components at the particular price point.
Their strategy of buying up several of the brands may well be paying off. I hope it continues.
Its nice to see aggressive competition while driving the overall market forward.
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|http://www.pcworld.com/b..._in_annual_revenue.html
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