Apple snatches 14 percent of May notebook sales

[AppleInsider]

An overhaul to Apple's consumer-level portables is partly credited for pushing Apple's share of the American market in May to new heights, according to a new NPD report.

The Mac maker climbed almost two full percentage points in mid-spring, securing 14.3 percent of all notebook sales in the U.S. versus 12.5 percent in April. The spike represented a 14 percent step up compared to the earlier period and lifts Apple to fourth place in the notebook sphere, putting it just behind HP, Gateway, and Toshiba.

The jump also represents a significant upward trend in the company's notebook share over the course of the spring quarter as a whole. Apple reached 9.9 percent in March, also claiming fourth place at the time. A mid-May update to the 13.3-inch MacBook is largely credited for the sharp uptick, as buyers waiting for an update were finally satisfied with new models.

And in fulfilling that need, the Cupertino-based firm also continued its trend of outrunning Windows manufacturers, NPD says. While the rival producers expanded sales by 37 percent compared to the same four-week period in 2006, MacBooks surged by 65 percent year over year -- almost double the industry rate.

Desktop share was virtually flat, however. Apple's portion of the retail business grew only slightly from 10.2 percent in April to 10.4 percent last month. The sluggish response is said to reflect an overall downturn in desktop sales which Apple has been unable to escape. The computer designer is known to be waiting on an upcoming iMac redesign for the summer.

Sales purely in the retail space were kinder to Apple's desktops, NPD says. The combined sales of iMacs, Mac minis, and Mac Pros climbed in May from 8.6 to 9.1 percent, while the more impressive notebook gain was reflected in a surge from 10.1 percent to 11.5 percent during the timeframe.

Combined share for notebooks and desktops was 13 percent, the analyst group says, marking a material increase from 11.6 percent in April.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

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[TBaggins]

Well, according to the article, Apple got a very big boost out of what was a very modest update to the MacBook line. Imagine what they could've gotten with a more serious update?

And yeah, the stats underscore the fact that the desktop lineup still needs help. Redesigned iMacs can't come too soon. And they should still do a minitower.

.

[Bacillus]

Apple will have 10% of the total US market (laptops & desktops) by 2010.

[bobmarksdale]

Originally Posted by Bacillus

Apple will have 10% of the total US market (laptops & desktops) by 2010.

I think 15. Optimistic, yes, but the growth rates are good and should continue to increase.

[doh123]

the begining of the article says thats the number for all Laptop sales, but thats not true, it for all retail laptop sales... retail only. This doesnt count the majority of Dell, and a lot from other companies. it also doesn't include non-retail sells of Macs.

[doh123]

Originally Posted by bsenka

According to the article, they've already passed that.

because the article is misleading.

[bsenka]

Originally Posted by Bacillus

Apple will have 10% of the total US market (laptops & desktops) by 2010.

According to the article, they've already passed that.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Combined share for notebooks and desktops was 13 percent, the analyst group says, marking a material increase from 11.6 percent in April.

[marshall]

This number could be higher if they had any machines to sell. Oregon stores have been out of the 2.2Ghz 15.4" MBP units for a week now, and the salespeople are starting to sound really annoyed when I call them up each day and ask if they got any in. If they really didn't want me (and others) to bother them, they could just create a waiting list (but apparently that is against store policy or something).

[freeny]

Originally Posted by marshall

This number could be higher if they had any machines to sell. Oregon stores have been out of the 2.2Ghz 15.4" MBP units for a week now, and the salespeople are starting to sound really annoyed when I call them up each day and ask if they got any in. If they really didn't want me (and others) to bother them, they could just create a waiting list (but apparently that is against store policy or something).

Why not just order direct from apple?

[penchanted]

Originally Posted by eAi

It may only include retail sales, but its still a very good indicator isn't it?

Seems it is an important contribution since Dell is now looking for retail sales through Wal-mart.

[eAi]

It may only include retail sales, but its still a very good indicator isn't it?

[aaarrrgggh]

Retail sales pretty much completely excludes business sales. Presumably, the numbers are just for the US as well.

Market share is growing, but there sure are a lot of odd metrics to make it sound bigger than it is. I'm just waiting for them to hit 3M units per quarter...

[marshall]

Originally Posted by freeny

Why not just order direct from apple?

Originally it was to avoid sales tax, but the stores have been so frustrating in terms of customer service, somewhat before I had decided to buy and now extremely since I have started trying to give them money, that I think I'm now doing it just to see if they will ever redeem themselves. Each new employee I talk to comes up with another store policy that flies in the face of traditional sales logic; it might just be the least helpful store I have ever dealt with, and it is sort of like watching a train wreck (which for some reason I find fascinating).

The other day they actually told me over the phone that they had some units, and then verified that they had several. I asked to reserve one, and was told that that was impossible. When I got to the store, there were none, the sales people said there had not been any for several days, and it was store policy to allow people to put them on reserve. The person also said they would not have any for the next two days for sure, as they could check shipments two days out; on two earlier occasions I had been told that they had no ability to track any incoming shipments.

I have accumulated enough "right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing" stories about Apple retail stores in the last week... I know the web is always an option, but for some crazy reason I now need to see the storefront work like it is supposed to. It's not about the money anymore, I just want to know that I can still get things in person.

[SpamSandwich]

Impressive notebook growth, Apple! Yes!

[anantksundaram]

This is a slightly misleading piece of reporting.

It makes it sound like 'volume' share, but a closer reading seems to make it sound as though it's all about 'value' share.

The latter is still good. However, it would be nice to see Macs get both volume and value share gains.

[bobmarksdale]

Originally Posted by bsenka

According to the article, they've already passed that.

The way I read it, they sold 14% of the total notebooks in May and that wasn't their current marketshare which is around 5 or 6% i believe.

[AISI]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

It makes it sound like 'volume' share, but a closer reading seems to make it sound as though it's all about 'value' share. […] However, it would be nice to see Macs get both volume and value share gains.

It seems to me like it's about volume share (units, not value). And the Mac average selling price is higher than the average for all PC manufacturers, the Mac gets both volume and value share gains.

Originally Posted by eAi

It may only include retail sales, but its still a very good indicator isn't it?

Retail sales only account for a fraction of PC sales but it's a good indicator of sales to consumers in the U.S. The issues become a bit blurred because Dell is selling directly to customers and NPD's figures do not include direct sales. On the other hand, the consumer segment only accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of Dell's overall business, as explained in this article. Dell is about to change its strategy and mix retail and direct sales to improve its share in the consumer segment, but it won't happen overnight.

NPD numbers usually include retail sales (not online, nor direct sales) in the United States but this time even after reading InformationWeek and Computerworld, it's still unclear what it's about.

Computerworld: "NPD collects its sales data primarily from retail point-of-sale sources, and excludes most online and all direct sales."

"Collects primarily" but not strictly? And "excludes most" but not all, which ones are included? WTF?

Quick summary: NPD numbers, U.S. market only.

Overall Mac share online and through brick-and-mortar stores
11.6 percent in April, 13 percent in May

Overall Mac share in brick-and-mortar stores alone
9.6 percent in April, 10.8 percent in May

Mac notebook share online and through brick-and-mortar stores
12.5 percent in April, 14.3 percent in May

Mac notebook share in brick-and-mortar stores alone
10.1 percent in April, 11.5 percent in May

Mac desktop share online and through brick-and-mortar stores
10.2 percent in April, 10.4 percent in May

Mac desktop share in brick-and-mortar stores alone
8.6 percent in April, 9.1 percent in May

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The jump [to 14.3 percent] also represents a significant upward trend in the company's notebook share over the course of the spring quarter as a whole. Apple reached 9.9 percent in March, also claiming fourth place at the time.

In retail-only Apple's U.S. notebook share reached 9.9 percent in March and 11.5 percent in May. The jump is from 9.9 to 11.5 percent.

Computerworld says that "Apple Inc. got help from the update to its MacBook laptops to push its share of the laptop market in the U.S. up nearly two points in May, to 14.3%" The jump to 14.3 percent is from 12.5 percent in April. Online and through brick-and-mortar stores, not retail-only.

Originally Posted by bobmarksdale

The way I read it, they sold 14% of the total notebooks in May and that wasn't their current marketshare which is around 5 or 6% i believe.

According to Gartner Apple had a 5 percent U.S. market share in January-to-March 2007. Desktops, notebooks and X86 servers sold to consumers, enterprises, or whoever, in retail stores and through direct sales, the whole shebang.

[ajhill]

Hey, why are we quibbling? Double digit Apple market share in any category is a reason to party.

And then there is that point in time when Apple acceptance reaches the tipping point. When all the windows users who continue to be windows users just because they have to justify their original decisions to buy into the platform come around and give in to buying a Mac. Watch out! There will be a tipping point, hopefully coming soon. Maybe the iPhone will convince people to give Apple computers a second look.

Sorry for injecting an iPhone reference. It seemed relevent. And after all this is officially the last week...

[icfireball]

I know a lot of people who are thinking seriously about getting a mac. Apple should employ me!

Really, I think there are a lot of people who want to get macs and talk to one of their friends who is a mac user about getting a mac, and are about to get a mac, but at the exact time they get around to getting a new computer, there isn't any mac person around to help them get a mac so they just go with a PC. I think a lot of peoples computer decisions are decided by someone they know who is knowledgeable about computers. This means that every new person that gets a mac is another person that would encourage one of their friends to get a mac.

[Mr. H]

Originally Posted by ajhill

Hey, why are we quibbling? Double digit Apple market share in any category is a reason to party.

Well, not really. I agree with you that there is a "tipping point", but whilst these figures make it seem like that tipping point is nearly upon us, Apple's actual share of the U.S. market is still only around 5%.

Whilst AI have stated that the data is for "all" laptops, it isn't. It is retail-only, and only a small fraction of computer sales are made at retail.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Desktop share was virtually flat, however. Apple's portion of the retail business grew only slightly from 10.2 percent in April to 10.4 percent last month. The sluggish response is said to reflect an overall downturn in desktop sales which Apple has been unable to escape.

That is flawed logic. The shrinking of the market as a whole should have no effect on whether or not Apple is able to increase its share of that market. The laptop numbers make it clear that if Apple builds laptops that people want, people will buy them, leading to double-digit growth in laptop market share. So why doesn't Apple start making real desktops and see the same thing happen to their desktop market share?

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

That is flawed logic. The shrinking of the market as a whole should have no effect on whether or not Apple is able to increase its share of that market. The laptop numbers make it clear that if Apple builds laptops that people want, people will buy them, leading to double-digit growth in laptop market share. So why doesn't Apple start making real desktops and see the same thing happen to their desktop market share?

Huh?

Desktop sales are a shrinking/flat market across the whole industry. What makes you think Apple can buck that trend?

[Mr. H]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

Huh?

Desktop sales are a shrinking/flat market across the whole industry. What makes you think Apple can buck that trend?

Apple doesn't have to buck that trend in order for its share of the market to increase. In a shrinking market, an individual company's market share can increase three ways: their unit shipments increase, their unit shipments stay flat, or their unit shipments fall by a smaller % amount than the % shrinking of the overall market.

The point is that people are still buying desktops. The market may be shrinking, but it is still significant and I wish Apple would stop sticking their fingers in their ears going "la la la" trying to pretend it isn't there.

[samurai1999]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

Apple doesn't have to buck that trend in order for its share of the market to increase. In a shrinking market, an individual company's market share can increase three ways: their unit shipments increase, their unit shipments stay flat, or their unit shipments fall by a smaller % amount than the % shrinking of the overall market.

The point is that people are still buying desktops. The market may be shrinking, but it is still significant and I wish Apple would stop sticking their fingers in their ears going "la la la" trying to pretend it isn't there.

Yes, I agree - if they had a winning line-up of desktops, they should still be able to gain market share in a declining market.
- and the fact that eventually notebook sales will overtake desktops shouldn't mean that desktops are ignored.
- I saw an nVidia presentation somewhere that showed that desktop sales (for PCs overall) are twice the size of notebooks
- with notebooks due to overtake desktops in volume in about 5 years time
- so, if Apple follows the general market, then it should be able to sell twice as many desktops as notebooks
- and the fact that it sells more notebooks than desktops, to me, indicates that its desktop line-up is relatively weak.

Actually, the nVidia slide showed that desktop sales were still growing, but just not growing as fast as notebook sales.

Edit:
Here's the link to the nVidia slide
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2984

[solipsism]

This news + iTS moving into 3rd for music sales = jump in stock price on Monday.

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

Apple doesn't have to buck that trend in order for its share of the market to increase. In a shrinking market, an individual company's market share can increase three ways: their unit shipments increase, their unit shipments stay flat, or their unit shipments fall by a smaller % amount than the % shrinking of the overall market.

The point is that people are still buying desktops. The market may be shrinking, but it is still significant and I wish Apple would stop sticking their fingers in their ears going "la la la" trying to pretend it isn't there.

I think your logic is flawed though. 'Real Desktops'* as you put them are in decline so your argument is that Apple should make 'Real Desktops' that are in decline, to increase it's market share.

That's leaving aside the argument that Apple is after market share above profit.

Apple isn't putting it's fingers in it's ears, you are.


* as opposed to 'Unreal Desktops' like the iMac, Mini and Mac Pro which obviously don't exist.

[Mr. H]

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

I think your logic is flawed though. 'Real Desktops'* as you put them are in decline so your argument is that Apple should make 'Real Desktops' that are in decline, to increase it's market share.

The logic is not flawed. So what if the market is shrinking? That doesn't stop it being huge. In fact, it may not even be shrinking, it's just that laptop sales are growing even faster (according to Nvidia).

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

That's leaving aside the argument that Apple is after market share above profit.

I didn't say anything about market share above profit.

Originally Posted by aegisdesign

* as opposed to 'Unreal Desktops' like the iMac, Mini and Mac Pro which obviously don't exist.

The iMac and Mac Mini are laptops without batteries. The Mac Pro is a workstation.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by marshall

This number could be higher if they had any machines to sell. Oregon stores have been out of the 2.2Ghz 15.4" MBP units for a week now, and the salespeople are starting to sound really annoyed when I call them up each day and ask if they got any in. If they really didn't want me (and others) to bother them, they could just create a waiting list (but apparently that is against store policy or something).

A shop near me is flat out of 2.2ghz and 2.4ghz fifteen inchers. The store staff don't sound that annoyed when people ask. ...Just had several MacBookPro 17 inchers in direct from about 200 miles south of here by truck. 15 inchers are going fast! Everybody is asking about the new screens. And the new screens are naiicee.

Originally Posted by freeny

Why not just order direct from apple?

Hardmac.com is reporting a global(?) shortage of 15 inchers.

[aegisdesign]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

The iMac and Mac Mini are laptops without batteries. The Mac Pro is a workstation.

Translation:

I can't afford a Mac Pro and the other desktops don't make my penis look big. Waaaaaaah!

Come on, don't be such a knob end all the time. An iMac is a desktop. The Mac Mini is a desktop. Just because they don't fit your narrow view of the world doesn't mean that isn't true.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

...The iMac and Mac Mini are laptops without batteries. The Mac Pro is a workstation.

I don't mind the Mac Mini being deprecated and *no* MidTower, and iMacs going 20" and 24" only. But a 15" MacBook to sit between the BlackMacBook and EntryMacBookPro is a possibly good niche, people need it godsdamnit!

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by solipsism

This news + iTS moving into 3rd for music sales = jump in stock price on Monday.

Whoa... 3rd? They targeted Target and that tastily tangible target is now no longer a trepidatious tumultous Target*. Wow, they did that in 6 months or so. Soon.... (well, maybe within a few years??) One MUSIC STORE TO RULE THEM ALL !! muah ah ahah ah ha haha ha ha ha aha

*Spare me some creative license, I am high on DawnOfWararkCrusade. Finally again an RTS that is complex and deep but easy and fun, with delicious nVidia8series graphics!!!

[vinea]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

Well, not really. I agree with you that there is a "tipping point", but whilst these figures make it seem like that tipping point is nearly upon us, Apple's actual share of the U.S. market is still only around 5%.

The tipping point has come and passed for Apple. The iPod's success was the tipping point of making the brand a "Gee, they used to be a great company" has-been with little industry influence to the massive mindshare they have today.

The increased Mac share is simply one more indicator that the tipping point was reached given the typical cost/performance ratio of mac hardware. While that measure was fairly good when the MB and MBP were first released, I think today you can find equivalent Dell/HP offerings for less.

That is flawed logic. The shrinking of the market as a whole should have no effect on whether or not Apple is able to increase its share of that market. The laptop numbers make it clear that if Apple builds laptops that people want, people will buy them, leading to double-digit growth in laptop market share. So why doesn't Apple start making real desktops and see the same thing happen to their desktop market share?

Given, as you say, they can increase share by having flat sales (which by the article they have) then their desktop line up is a) outperforming the market given the downward trend and b) their desktop share is increasing if only by some small miniscule amount.

Given that they have had several opportunities to increase desktop share with their current line up simply through price reductions and have stated at least twice in quarterlies when asked that they would not pursue share at the expense of profits I doubt you'll see a significant change in stance on the desktop front. It appears that Apple is happy with their 600Kish desktop volumes except for perhaps their Mac Pro sales if they don't pick up now that more pro universal apps are here.

Effectively Apple has no desktops. Just laptops in various configurations and a workstation. That's seems to be a very effective strategy moving forward.

Vinea

[Neil Anderson]

Congrats to Apple on the double-digit laptop sales figures. I'm waiting till Leopard is released in October, then I'm going to buy an iMac desktop computer.

[saengseon]

This is good to hear. Even if Apple gets 15 percent, that's good exposure and support from software companies. Good to see them all around. Our entire family have Apple laptops. My wife and stepson are new to Macs, and now they have them, although my stepson generally runs XP on his MacBook.

It's good to remember the installed base vs share. Lots of companies buy new computers every few years, but buy no name boxes. Which works for them just fine.

For consumers, they probably hold onto a computer longer and Macs may last or be held onto longer.

I'd like to know what the HOME CONSUMER installed base is for Mac versus PC. Maybe it's 10 or 15 percent?

A lot of people just buy a PC because it is cheaper. They don't care or don't appreciate the software or the quality of the build. My daughter's friend's family was considering a Mac after their PC crapped out. They went to the Apple store and quizzed my daughter about viruses and so on. In the end they got the crapped out PC fixed, then got a new no-name box that crapped out right after they bought it. They got that one fixed, too. For them, they don't care about the quality. They just want a cheap box. This works for them.

[iPeon]

Originally Posted by vinea

The tipping point has come and passed for Apple. The iPod's success was the tipping point of making the brand a "Gee, they used to be a great company" has-been with little industry influence to the massive mindshare they have today.

The increased Mac share is simply one more indicator that the tipping point was reached given the typical cost/performance ratio of mac hardware. While that measure was fairly good when the MB and MBP were first released, I think today you can find equivalent Dell/HP offerings for less.

The tipping point has come and passed for Apple? I'm sorry but you are funny. The iPhone will make a much bigger impact. It will make the iPod's success pale in comparison. "The tipping point has come and passed for Apple"...

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by eAi

It may only include retail sales, but its still a very good indicator isn't it?

Considering Dell and HP do at least half of their business online and through consultants and corporate account reps, I think that not including those bastardizes the numbers.

[inkswamp]

Originally Posted by Mr. H

The iMac and Mac Mini are laptops without batteries. The Mac Pro is a workstation.

Would you explain this line of thinking to me? I honestly don't worry much about the interior components of the laptops vs. the iMacs but it doesn't make sense that Apple would use laptop-grade components in a desktop machine of any type. I'll accept your position concerning the Mini because it seems reasonable to me that a lot of trade-offs needed to be made to get those components down into that tiny little box, but are you sure the same applies to the iMac? If so, how?

[Edit: Also it seems a little anachronistic to worry about the difference in laptop vs. desktop components when the two have gradually moved very close to each other in terms of power and speed. Can you explain also how that figures into your thinking? BTW, I'm not trying to challenge your point of view, but I hear so many people make this statement about the iMacs just being laptops, and from what I've seen and understand of the two, that doesn't hold up. But maybe I'm wrong.]

[Flounder]

Originally Posted by inkswamp

Would you explain this line of thinking to me? I honestly don't worry much about the interior components of the laptops vs. the iMacs but it doesn't make sense that Apple would use laptop-grade components in a desktop machine of any type. I'll accept your position concerning the Mini because it seems reasonable to me that a lot of trade-offs needed to be made to get those components down into that tiny little box, but are you sure the same applies to the iMac? If so, how?

I think people exaggerate that point. Really, the iMac uses a mixture of desktop and more laptop oriented parts.

[vinea]

Originally Posted by iPeon

The tipping point has come and passed for Apple? I'm sorry but you are funny. The iPhone will make a much bigger impact. It will make the iPod's success pale in comparison. "The tipping point has come and passed for Apple"...

Without the success of the iPod there would be no iPhone. Apple has already successfully transitioned from comeback to dominance. Hence they have already made it past their tipping point in terms of branding and mindshare. The current success builds upon that key success.

Which part of this do you disagree with?

Vinea

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by inkswamp

[Edit: Also it seems a little anachronistic to worry about the difference in laptop vs. desktop components when the two have gradually moved very close to each other in terms of power and speed. Can you explain also how that figures into your thinking? ]

You are correct for all components except the hard disk: for the same cost as a ~100 gig 5400 RPM laptop drive, you could have a 350 or with a nice volume discount, a 500 gig 7200RPM desktop drive: as a user of a 4200 RPM mac mini, I can tell you, 3000 RPM makes a nice performance boost those apps that thrash the disk like iTunes and it also makes swapping easier and apps launch faster and just an all around "snappier" experience

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by a_greer

You are correct for all components except the hard disk: for the same cost as a ~100 gig 5400 RPM laptop drive, you could have a 350 or with a nice volume discount, a 500 gig 7200RPM desktop drive: as a user of a 4200 RPM mac mini, I can tell you, 3000 RPM makes a nice performance boost those apps that thrash the disk like iTunes and it also makes swapping easier and apps launch faster and just an all around "snappier" experience

Word. 7200rpm