Report: Mac Spending Up Despite Poor Outlook for Consumer Electronics

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Changewave's latest customer surveys report that general consumer electronic spending is low and trending lower, but that Apple's Mac sales are up and rising by a significant margin.



The group surveyed 4,416 participants in August to find that only 15% report plans to spend more on electronics over the next 90 days, while 34% plan to spend less. Changewave's surveys are held monthly and serve as an accurate overall barometer of future spending.



When asked where they planned to spend their back to school money, 8% said they would spend more money at the online Apple Store than they did last year, while 4% said they would spend less money there. Changewave noted that made Apple "far and away the biggest winner" of the sites respondents mentioned.



The group said participants' plans to buy new PC remained weak, with just 8% saying they would buy a new laptop in the next three months, and only 5% planning to buy a new desktop, a drop of 2 points from a year ago.



Of those planning a purchase however, 34% of laptop buyers and 30% planning to get desktop computer said they would be getting a Mac. That marks a steady rise from around 18% in the 2006 back to school season and the 23% to 28% reported last year.



Apple beat out Dell in forecasted sales in the US consumer survey, with the top PC maker only getting 28% of planned laptops and 28% of planned desktop PC purchases. HP ranked with 20% for laptops and 17% for desktops.



A full 17% of iPhone 3G owners said they are now more likely to buy an Apple laptop or desktop based on their experience with the phone, compared to just 1% who reported they were less likely to consider a Mac in the future.



"The key takeaway from these survey results," Changewave noted, "is that consumer electronics spending will remain weak over the next 90 days. The one bright spot is Apple, whose Mac sales are outperforming and are poised to once again reach new all-time highs."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Well I'm buying a lot of Apple crap lately, and I love it!
  • Reply 2 of 29
    Mac owners are usually the upscale/spendy crowd.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by captaincore View Post


    Mac owners are usually the upscale/spendy crowd.



    Yep, spendy and in debt.
  • Reply 4 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iVlad View Post


    Yep, spendy and in debt.



    I'd be in that group!
  • Reply 5 of 29
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Ars is reporting that Gartner has Apple as the #6 largest PC vendor in the world. Earlier this year Apple became the 4th largest PC vendor. If Apple ever beats out HP as the largest PC vendor in the world they will still only have a fourth of the OS marketshare of MS.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iVlad View Post


    Yep, spendy and in debt.



    I thought they had more of the disposable income crowd.
  • Reply 6 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Well I'm buying a lot of Apple crap lately, and I love it!



    Sellers of crap thank you!
  • Reply 7 of 29
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    I wouldn't be surprised. Apple has managed to quite handily beat the economic "softness" for the first two quarters of the year.
  • Reply 8 of 29
    tomorrow Stocks will tank on Lehmann brothers bankruptcy worst is not over yet, this holiday/quarter it is hard for every company including Apple.



    gas price still is the same even with large inventory... where is the end?
  • Reply 9 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    I wouldn't be surprised. Apple has managed to quite handily beat the economic "softness" for the first two quarters of the year.



    Exactly. And have you seen young kids today? They don't appear to be cutting back any. We have a new generation of spenders that should make us look like pikers.



    That said, I eat at Apple's buffet as well. The iPod touch was too much to resist.



    I think Apple is going to reap the rewards of all these small business/corporate sales. These are repeat customers who buy dozens/hundreds/thousands of Macs at a time and upgrade frequently. And some are even resistant to economic downturns.



    Good times!
  • Reply 10 of 29
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Ars is reporting that Gartner has Apple as the #6 largest PC vendor in the world. Earlier this year Apple became the 4th largest PC vendor. If Apple ever beats out HP as the largest PC vendor in the world they will still only have a fourth of the OS marketshare of MS.





    I thought they had more of the disposable income crowd.



    Let Microsoft have the rest. Apple already makes 1/4 the profit of Microsoft. If they had the kind of market share you suggest, they'd be much more profitable than Microsoft. With that kind of money, they could just keep improving the user experience until Microsoft becomes completely irrelevant.
  • Reply 11 of 29
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Let Microsoft have the rest. Apple already makes 1/4 the profit of Microsoft. If they had the kind of market share you suggest, they'd be much more profitable than Microsoft. With that kind of money, they could just keep improving the user experience until Microsoft becomes completely irrelevant.



    I agree, but too many people 'round these here parts think that MS will be falling in a few years. If my rough calculations are anywhere near accurate Apple would have about 3x the unit share of the #2 PC OEM and probably about 6x the market cap of MS before they'd have more OS marketshare than MS.
  • Reply 12 of 29
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    iPhone satisfaction is unheard of! I wonder if the early 3G hiccups (AT&T and App Store related) apply to the time period surveyed? It would seem so since they specifically say iPhone 3G.
  • Reply 13 of 29
    s10s10 Posts: 107member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    iPhone satisfaction is unheard of! I wonder if the early 3G hiccups (AT&T and App Store related) apply to the time period surveyed? It would seem so since they specifically say iPhone 3G.



    You read to many blogs and forums. They give a distorted view on the reality of things: Most people (99,99%), especially when satisfied, have no need nor desire to read or write on blogs/forums.

    Therefore what may seem like a huge problem, in reality is almost not noticeable.
  • Reply 14 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by captaincore View Post


    Mac owners are usually the upscale/spendy crowd.



    I, err, must be the exception. I am anything but this.
  • Reply 15 of 29
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    iPhone satisfaction is unheard of! I wonder if the early 3G hiccups (AT&T and App Store related) apply to the time period surveyed? It would seem so since they specifically say iPhone 3G.



    Heh. If you spend your time reading web sites where people go to complain about things, of course you think no one is happy. But if you don't realize that those type of forums are not the average user, well, you need to adjust your data sources.
  • Reply 16 of 29
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    Call me crazy but I'm liking the new systems from Dell. The mini laptop and their mini desktop are nice systems.



    Apple's Mac Mini is looking pretty old and uninspiring at this point in time. Even with the Macbook Air Apple really has no mini laptop utilizing the Atom processor. Will we see one soon?



    I see a Mac Mini form factor update and and mini laptop entry as pushing Apple's numbers further or at least sustaining their current growth rate.
  • Reply 17 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Let Microsoft have the rest. Apple already makes 1/4 the profit of Microsoft. If they had the kind of market share you suggest, they'd be much more profitable than Microsoft. With that kind of money, they could just keep improving the user experience until Microsoft becomes completely irrelevant.





    Apple has had 25 years to gain that Market Share. The Lisa was revolutionary.



    It's Apple's constant grip on Secrecy and Control that has held them back.



    I love Apple for their products...



    But I dislike their complete lack of tolerance for anyone that happens to stand in Steve's way.



    IMHO this is why we don't have the market share we deserve today.



    It was proven again this weekend for Apple to not let a Podcast software in it store. Complete lacks of freedom to program as you wish even when you stay within Apple's SDK agreement.



    Apple (FOR THE FIRST TIME) has competition at its front doors with an open platform and they proceed with business as usual. Programmers will start to migrate to the other App Stores popping up and we'll be left with GPS that does nothing than give us a dot to show us where we are.



    That is not why i purchased my iPhone 3G.



    Rip me apart but it's the truth.
  • Reply 18 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacOldTimer View Post


    Apple has had 25 years to gain that Market Share. The Lisa was revolutionary.



    It's Apple's constant grip on Secrecy and Control that has held them back.



    I love Apple for their products...



    But I dislike their complete lack of tolerance for anyone that happens to stand in Steve's way.



    IMHO this is why we don't have the market share we deserve today.



    It was proven again this weekend for Apple to not let a Podcast software in it store. Complete lacks of freedom to program as you wish even when you stay within Apple's SDK agreement.



    Apple (FOR THE FIRST TIME) has competition at its front doors with an open platform and they proceed with business as usual. Programmers will start to migrate to the other App Stores popping up and we'll be left with GPS that does nothing than give us a dot to show us where we are.



    That is not why i purchased my iPhone 3G.



    Rip me apart but it's the truth.



    I disagree. Look at what happened to Apple when Steve left. They went in the tank, and had to be bailed out by none other than Microsoft to even stay afloat. Since Steve has come back, Apple has been thriving.



    I would say that Apple has done a good job at chipping away at MS's market share. Microsoft had/has a near monopoly of the entire market, without a clear competitor for the longest time. I think we are starting to see a shift in thinking and less tolerance of less-than-stellar products. People are migrating to Apple products because they are simply better, but it is difficult to make up so much ground so quickly, it takes time, but I am confident Apple is up to the task.



    P.S. About the GPS on the iPhone, TomTom and TeleNav are both working on true turn-by-turn GPS for the iPhone, and allegedly TomTom is working directly with Apple, but that has neither been confirmed nor denied, so who knows. Regardless, we should have more than just a blue dot relatively soon!
  • Reply 19 of 29
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iVlad View Post


    Yep, spendy and in debt.



    Currently I am in the Apple spendy group. I will be joining the in debt before this year end though
  • Reply 20 of 29
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacOldTimer View Post


    IMHO this is why we don't have the market share we deserve today.



    Apple is the 4th largest vendor in the US and their sales average 2x as much as other vendors. I think their marketshare is fine.
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