Apple takes double-digit PC market share in Canada

[AppleInsider]

Propelled by the strength of its MacBook lineup, Apple has taken a 10 percent market share of personal computers in Canada, new sales figures show.

"It's certainly been Apple's most impressive quarter, if not ever, certainly going back as far as I can look, and that goes into the '90s," Tim Brunt, senior analyst personal computing and technology with IDC Canada told AppleInsider. "They certainly had a banner quarter up here."

While the rest of the Canadian PC market was sluggish during the second quarter of 2009, Apple, much like in the U.S., is at a record-setting pace. The numbers from IDC Canada, a market data supplier, show that Apple's year-over-year sales grew 24.8 percent from Q2 2008, thanks to the success of portable computer offerings from the Cupertino, Calif., company.

Overall PC sales in Canada were down 14.6 percent year over year, and off 12 percent from Q1 2009. In all, 1.2 million computers were shipped. Brunt explained that Canada has lagged behind the U.S. and the rest of the world as the global recession has finally begun to have its effect on the nation.

"We enterted the recession a lot later than happened in the U.S., so last quarter and this quarter we're just starting to see the effects of it," he said. "We're coming out of it fairly quickly."

The top PC maker in Canada for the quarter was HP, which held the No. 1 position with a 22.1 percent share. However, its total year-over-year impact was down 25.3 percent. Nipping at HP's heels is Dell, which controls 20.7 percent of the market.

Like in the U.S., netbook sales are booming, selling 114,000 units in Q2 in Canada, a growth of over 200 percent year over year. In all, netbooks represented 25 percent of all units shipped. Desktop PCs didn't fare well, though, shrinking 36.8 percent in market share from a year prior.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[joelsalt]

does this mean we are cooler per capita than the States?

[apptastic]

its aboot time!

[Shunnabunich]

That's pretty impressive! Just imagine what they could do if they actually realized Canada existed.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by joelsalt

does this mean we are cooler per capita than the States?

No- it just means that your wealthiest 10% has just wisend up.

[iReality85]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Propelled by the strength of its MacBook lineup, Apple has taken a 10 percent market share of personal computers in Canada, new sales figures show.

You mean they actually use computers in Canada?

Who knew.

[Tulkas]

I am actually a little surprised the Apple didn't break 10% here before. Just from personal, anecdotal evidence, the number of people buying Macs has exploded in recent years. 5 years ago, other than my father and brother, I was the only person I knew that owned Macs, but we have used them for decades. At work, I think there may have been one person that had one. Now, I have a couple friends that have each bought 2 Macs in the last 3 years and my sister bought her first and second Macs over the last 4 years. At work, the number of people with Macs at home has exploded. In the last couple years I know two VPs bought them for their families, 2 directors have them and at least one other developer bought one to start doing iPhone development.

In terms of people I interact with on a regular basis that have bought new computers over the last couple years (that I am aware of), far more than 10% have gone Mac. All this without an Apple Store in town and only one specialty Mac store that open a couple years ago. I was at FutureShop a week or so ago and the Mac mini-store was surrounded by lots of people...at least half of the people in the overall PC dept were looking at Macs or talking to the visiting Mac genius or FS staffer about the Macs.

[frugality]

You Canucks got class.

[801]

They can afford to buy Macs with not having to pay for health care.

(OK, OK, just trying to get everyone riled up. Take it easy...)

[ddrucker]

I hope this means that I'll have to spend less time defending my insistence on using a Mac at work. At the past 3 employers (2 full time, 1 contract), it's been PC or fuggedaboutit. The two employers were actually Mac hostile.

In Vancouver, there seems to be a split between the small developers and techies who use Macs about 75-90% (this is easily seen by looking in the window of any of the coffee shops) and the larger businesses, who are exactly the opposite (75-90% PC). Not sure if that's the case all over Canada, or the US for that matter. It's almost as if the Mac is the computer of the individual (who knows better and doesn't have an IT Dept. to support them and rebuild their systems when they fail) and the PC is the computer of corporate, no-one-ever-got-fired-for-buying-Windows group.

[anantksundaram]

At this rate, the old flag will have to be renamed 'Mapple Leaf,' eh?

[xtrmtrk]

I'm the world's biggest Apple fan having owned them since 1979 and worked there for 10 years, but.... I'm wondering how much of the downturn in PC sales is due to people waiting for the official release of Win7 on new hardware purchases. Unfortunately I need to buy a new desktop PC (don't ask it's too painful) and I know I'm waiting.

[Tulkas]

Originally Posted by ddrucker

I hope this means that I'll have to spend less time defending my insistence on using a Mac at work. At the past 3 employers (2 full time, 1 contract), it's been PC or fuggedaboutit. The two employers were actually Mac hostile.

In Vancouver, there seems to be a split between the small developers and techies who use Macs about 75-90% (this is easily seen by looking in the window of any of the coffee shops) and the larger businesses, who are exactly the opposite (75-90% PC). Not sure if that's the case all over Canada, or the US for that matter. It's almost as if the Mac is the computer of the individual (who knows better and doesn't have an IT Dept. to support them and rebuild their systems when they fail) and the PC is the computer of corporate, no-one-ever-got-fired-for-buying-Windows group.

I would agree that Macs are selling mainly to consumers right now and not corporate sales. We do some Mac development here and I have heard that there is a definite uptick in Mac sales, so I do think there is an upturn on the corporate side as well, just not as prominent yet.

But, if the reported numbers are from overall PC sales in Canada and not just consumer sales, that really speaks volumes about just how many individuals are buying for their own use. For the increase from personal sales to impact the overall PC market means Macs are flying in the consumer space.

For your coffee shop observation, I would have to agree again. In one popular coffee shop I visit next to the UW campus, I have made it a habit of quickly counting how laptops there are and how many are Macs. Almost every time, it is at least 50% Macs, often far more than 50%. These are mainly students, but often are also lots of tech workers (RIM, Google, OpenText and Sybase offices are just down the street) and others.

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by Shunnabunich

That's pretty impressive! Just imagine what they could do if they actually realized Canada existed.

It's that big almost unpopulated place north of here, where the people talk funny. Am I right?

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by teckstud

No- it just means that your wealthiest 10% has just wisend up.

Actually you can walk by any coffee shop even in the poorest parts of town (where I live of course), and see at least 40/60, Macs vs. PCs in use at any one time.

Canadians are generally more progressive than US citizens and usually a bit more open to trying something new given that it's a "newer" country than the US, that also changes faster than the US.

The poorer citizens just buy second-hand Macs.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

The poorer citizens just buy second-hand Macs.

We call them used..... but never mind....

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss

It's that big almost unpopulated place north of here, where the people talk funny. Am I right?

Don't forget it's also the only country to have kicked the US's ass in a war, invaded your soil all the way to the Mississippi and burned the White House to the ground.

Just Sayin.

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Don't forget it's also the only country to have kicked the US's ass in a war, invaded your soil all the way to the Mississippi and burned the White House to the ground.

Just Sayin.

I assume you are referring to the War of 1812. You will find that war was with Great Britain, and was fought to a draw.

Anyway, on the actual topic:

...Apple's year-over-year sales grew 24.8 percent from Q2 2008... Overall PC sales in Canada were down 14.6 percent year over year...

So, if you removed Apple's sales growth from the overall PC sales figures, by how much did the Windows PC market shrink in Canada? By 20% perhaps?

That it seems to me is another big, untold part of this story.

[christopher126]

Enjoy...I love this girl's tongue for some reason!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw

[polar315]

After getting my first mac in Dec of 2008 I have personally converted no less than 10 people to the cult of mac. All it takes is a quick spin in iPhoto for most and they are sold. Have not had one person say they regretted switching. Though a couple of them did require me to help them install a copy of windows for some specific work related items (usually VPN software).

[phalanx]

Originally Posted by teckstud

No- it just means that your wealthiest 10% has just wisend up.

Wait a minute, what about the position that Mac/Apple is the best value proposition. Lowest cost of ownership, best value, etc. They would not have to be wealthy, there would just be more brilliant people in Canada than the USA.

You can't be both elitist and value conscious at the same time.

Let's keep our stories straight. You start sounding like you make it up as you go....

[htoelle]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Actually you can walk by any coffee shop even in the poorest parts of town (where I live of course), and see at least 40/60, Macs vs. PCs in use at any one time.

Canadians are generally more progressive than US citizens and usually a bit more open to trying something new given that it's a "newer" country than the US, that also changes faster than the US.

The poorer citizens just buy second-hand Macs.

I have been using Macs for 20 plus years now I live in Kingston Ontario. I have always sensed that we must be one of the , if not the number number One Anti Mac/Apple cities in Canada. This is just great news Canada and something of a feather in Apple Canada's Hat. Congratulations Birchmount Road TO.

Just Great
HT

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by iReality85

You mean they actually use computers in Canada?

Who knew.

And I used to live in Toronto!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw

[Tulkas]

Originally Posted by phalanx

Wait a minute, what about the position that Mac/Apple is the best value proposition. Lowest cost of ownership, best value, etc. They would not have to be wealthy, there would just be more brilliant people in Canada than the USA.

You can't be both elitist and value conscious at the same time.

Let's keep our stories straight. You start sounding like you make it up as you go....

They can be a very competitive and have low cost of ownership, best value, etc, and not take away from his point. I can't recall the exact details, but over the years there have been various studies that have claimed to show that Mac users are generally more intelligent and have higher incomes that Windows users. Nothing elitist about being smart enough to spend your money wisely, even if you have more than others

[zunx]

The day the Mac reaches 25% worldwide, Windows will be history in three years.

[camroidv27]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Don't forget it's also the only country to have kicked the US's ass in a war, invaded your soil all the way to the Mississippi and burned the White House to the ground.

Just Sayin.

I believe that our rear ends were in a sling a while back due to the neighbor to the south. I forgot the place though... somewhere that I know I'm supposed to never forget.

Which reminds me, I need to reserve my rental car.

[joelsalt]

Originally Posted by 801

They can afford to buy Macs with not having to pay for health care.

(OK, OK, just trying to get everyone riled up. Take it easy...)

Hahahaha

To Teckstud: I'm DEF. not in the 10% wealthiest and I'm an owner of 2 macs!

[joelsalt]

Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss

I assume you are referring to the War of 1812. You will find that war was with Great Britain, and was fought to a draw.

Classic. I bet he comes from a country with single digit mac users. MIRITE?!

But in seriousness, it is odd to see Canada with a higher % of mac users, considering our overall culture is very similar (and, probably, our overall wealth lower)

[paxman]

Originally Posted by zunx

The day the Mac reaches 25% worldwide, Windows will be history in three years.

If you have the lifespan of a gnat, maybe. Oh, and a lot of imagination.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by 801

They can afford to buy Macs with not having to pay for health care.

(OK, OK, just trying to get everyone riled up. Take it easy...)

With the money Canada is saving having a decent healthcare system the government should buy all its citizens an mbp every three or four years!

[dualie]

Originally Posted by iReality85

You mean they actually use computers in Canada?

Who knew.

/yawn

That's really hack humor man. You need to get out of the States more often. Preferably to Canada. You might actually learn that there is a whole other world out there.

[Tulkas]

Originally Posted by dualie

/yawn

That's really hack humor man. You need to get out of the States more often. Preferably to Canada. You might actually learn that there is a whole other world out there.

Take it easy, I am sure he meant it as harmless humour.

Having said that, you are right. CNN today reported hurricane Bill was not going to make landfall. Meanwhile they show it's projected path heading right for the east coast of Canada...guess it doesn't count unless it hits the US.

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by Tulkas

I am actually a little surprised the Apple didn't break 10% here before. Just from personal, anecdotal evidence, the number of people buying Macs has exploded in recent years.

I'm not surprised that Apple has just increased sales of Macs in Canada. Until a couple of years ago, most of the Mac oriented computer stores in Ottawa were closing, NorthStar was gone, Compucentre had closed up. People buying Macs were starting to worry about where to take their computers to get repaired or upgraded. Only in the last couple of years have we gotten a Carbon Computing (the best Mac computer store franchise in Canada) and only just this year have we gotten an actual Apple Store. If you want to sell computers in a country you need a presence in that country, other than online.

[Tofino]

Originally Posted by dualie

/yawn

That's really hack humor man. You need to get out of the States more often. Preferably to Canada. You might actually learn that there is a whole other world out there.

shhhhh! do we really want that?

[ouragan]

Quoting from the IDC report @ http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prCA21972809:

* For the first time, Apple broke into double-digit market share with a 10.0% take of the overall PC client market. This was supported by very strong growth in portables, with Apple growing 24.8% YoY.

* For the second consecutive quarter, Acer took the top share in portables with 21.4% of the market. Acer's performance comes from the strength of their Mini Notebook offerings, which the vendor currently dominates with a 57.5% market share. Unit shipments into the SMB space have recovered strongly from a very weak 1Q09, growing 23.6% year over year compared to a 3.7% pullback in the first quarter. Of special note, consumer portables enjoyed a double digit year-over-year growth for the 24th consecutive quarter.

Two numbers to emphasize from the report:

- Apple had a 10% market share in Canada for the second quarter of 2009;

- Acer had a 21.4% market share in portables for the second quarter of 2009, mostly because it sold 57.5% of the netbooks for the quarter in Canada.


A 10% market share is nothing to sneeze at, but there is not much to brag about either. Market leaders HP and Dell have both more than 20% of the market each. What these numbers indicate is how wrong Apple is in not making any desktop computer with a quad-core desktop CPU, nor any netbook. You can't sell the computers Apple won't make.

[Expat]

Originally Posted by joelsalt

But in seriousness, it is odd to see Canada with a higher % of mac users, considering our overall culture is very similar (and, probably, our overall wealth lower)

I think you have to gauge things based upon regions. I live in Vancouver, and I wouldn't be shocked if the 'couv doesn't tip the scales a little. I see more Macs than PCs at coffee shops, and My current employer is the first architecture firm I have come across using Macs, and the more I talk to people the more common I find Mac offices in the city. In the States it was all AutoCAD and XP, but here its all Vectorworks on Mac.

I don't know the sociology behind this, but I can happily attest that 10% market is more than met.

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by ouragan

A 10% market share is nothing to sneeze at, but there is not much to brag about either. Market leaders HP and Dell have both more than 20% of the market each. What these numbers indicate is how wrong Apple is in not making any desktop computer with a quad-core desktop CPU, nor any netbook. You can't sell the computers Apple won't make.

Market share is not the point. Growth is the name of the game. I would suggest you look again at Apple's unit growth compared to the rest of the PC market's decline in Canada (which is similar to the pattern in the US over the past few years). Market share doesn't mean poop when it's in decline. It also doesn't make much sense to compare Apple's market share against any given Windows PC maker. Compare Apple's growth against the Windows PC market as a whole, if you want the real story.

[kerryn]

What would be really interesting would be market share based on revenue. Of course getting that would be a lot harder as you would need to know the wholesale price of all the computers sold, but given how many units are cheaper netbooks and bargain basement no frill machines in the PC sector, I would guess that on pure revenue, Apple is a lot higher than 10%.

[Quadra 610]

Nice to see we're doing well.

Well, relatively.

Wireless access in our igloos FTW.

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by ouragan

Two numbers to emphasize from the report:

- Apple had a 10% market share in Canada for the second quarter of 2009;

- Acer had a 21.4% market share in portables for the second quarter of 2009, mostly because it sold 57.5% of the netbooks for the quarter in Canada.


A 10% market share is nothing to sneeze at, but there is not much to brag about either. Market leaders HP and Dell have both more than 20% of the market each. What these numbers indicate is how wrong Apple is in not making any desktop computer with a quad-core desktop CPU, nor any netbook. You can't sell the computers Apple won't make.

You seem to be under some misguided perception that market share is the ultimate measure of success. Apple makes more profit on the sale of one of its computers than Acer generates in revenue on the sale of one of its netbooks. There are a lot of ways Apple could increase market share, but they only focus on the market share that is actually worth obtaining. Given the products they do sell, 10% is quite good.