NPD: Apple's MacBook Air most popular thin-and-light notebook with 56 percent share of market

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple's MacBook Air is far and away the most popular notebook in its class, according to new data from NPD that shows the ultra portable holding more than half of the thin-and-light laptop market.

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Market research firm NPD estimates that Apple's MacBook Air grabbed 56 percent of the U.S. thin-and-light notebook market in the first five months of 2013, according to CNet. The remainder of the market was split between assorted Ultrabook manufacturers.

NPD's figures don't yet take into account the release of Apple's newest MacBook Airs, which leverage Intel's new Haswell processors. The 2013 models were designed to maximize battery life, with an advertised 12 hours of juice in the case of the 13-inch model.

AppleInsider found the 11-inch MacBook Air to not only live up to Apple's claims, but surpass them by some measure.

Already a leader in the mobile computing sector, Apple has also been able to somewhat buck the trend that has seen the traditional computing segment in steep decline. One report from earlier this year estimated that Apple's Mac line generates more profit than the other top five PC makers combined.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    pendergastpendergast Posts: 1,358member
    Why would you buy any other ultra portable?
  • Reply 2 of 30
    dugbugdugbug Posts: 283member
    Doomed
  • Reply 3 of 30
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    But...but...but... iHaters and trolls say that the MBA is just generic PC parts in a "pretty" package? How can this be??

    Oh wait... for a moment I thought they actually had a valid opinion... nevermind. My bad.

    *posted using my 2011 MBA, the best notebook I've ever used.
  • Reply 4 of 30

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Apple's MacBook Air is far and away the most popular notebook in its class, according to new data from NPD that shows the ultra portable holding more than half of the thin-and-light laptop market.




     





    Market research firm NPD estimates that Apple's MacBook Air grabbed 56 percent of the U.S. thin-and-light notebook market in the first five months of 2013, according to CNet. The remainder of the market was split between assorted Ultrabook manufacturers.



    NPD's figures don't yet take into account the release of Apple's newest MacBook Airs, which leverage Intel's new Haswell processors. The 2013 models were designed to maximize battery life, with an advertised 12 hours of juice in the case of the 13-inch model.



    AppleInsider found the 11-inch MacBook Air to not only live up to Apple's claims, but surpass them by some measure.



    Already a leader in the mobile computing sector, Apple has also been able to somewhat buck the trend that has seen the traditional computing segment in steep decline. One report from earlier this year estimated that Apple's Mac line generates more profit than the other top five PC makers combined.


     


    Uncle Fester just completed his big Whoop-de-doo conference and didn't even mention Haswell chips for the Surface Pro bun warmer. So, how far out can THAT be? 


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Apple's MacBook Air is far and away the most popular notebook in its class, according to new data from NPD that shows the ultra portable holding more than half of the thin-and-light laptop market.




    Already a leader in the mobile computing sector, Apple has also been able to somewhat buck the trend that has seen the traditional computing segment in steep decline. One report from earlier this year estimated that Apple's Mac line generates more profit than the other top five PC makers combined.



     


    THAT'S AMAZING !! It shows how terrible it is to have an OS that anyone can slap on a box of chips. There's just no way to make a decent profit. The same thing is going on in the Android phone and tablet market. Hardly a penny's profit for all the units sold. Even Samsung is losing money; 10s of billions dollars loss just announced.

  • Reply 5 of 30
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member


    It's just like with other categories of Apple devices that serves as the inspiration for every other cheap, ripoff on the market.


     


    There is the one true original, in this case the Macbook Air, then there are all of the other inferior, crappy Macbook Air wannabes.


     


    The funniest part is that the people who constantly bash and whine about Apple are probably the very same people that go out and buy these inferior products that try so hard to look like a Macbook Air. What a bunch of pathetic fools.

  • Reply 6 of 30
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    It's just like with other categories of Apple devices that serves as the inspiration for every other cheap, ripoff on the market.


     


    There is the one true original, in this case the Macbook Air, then there are all of the other inferior, crappy Macbook Air wannabes.


     


    The funniest part is that the people who constantly bash and whine about Apple are probably the very same people that go out and buy these inferior products that try so hard to look like a Macbook Air. What a bunch of pathetic fools.



    A bit harsh....but I agree with you. :)

  • Reply 7 of 30
    r00fusr00fus Posts: 245member
    Remember, Ultrabook = MacbookAir clone.

    Clones are by definition/practice, inferior to the original.
  • Reply 8 of 30
    ifij775ifij775 Posts: 470member
    I've been pleasantly surprised by the price comparison of the new MBA to the Wintel ultrabooks.
  • Reply 9 of 30
    I have the late 2010 MBA and it is still rocking!
  • Reply 10 of 30
    Yep and copies of a copy are even less sharp
  • Reply 11 of 30
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    It's just like with other categories of Apple devices that serves as the inspiration for every other cheap, ripoff on the market.


     


    There is the one true original, in this case the Macbook Air, then there are all of the other inferior, crappy Macbook Air wannabes.


     


    The funniest part is that the people who constantly bash and whine about Apple are probably the very same people that go out and buy these inferior products that try so hard to look like a Macbook Air. What a bunch of pathetic fools.



     


    Not all the ultrabooks are facsimiles of the MBA. But some are shockingly shameless in their copying, including HP. I'd argue they go farther in copying the MBA than Samsung has done with the Galaxy phones. But perhaps because the software is different, the argument for brand confusion is weaker.


    Although I have tried far from all Windows ultrabooks, the ones I have used are surprisingly inferior in one respect - the touchpad. Pardon the pun, they can't touch Apple yet on that front.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ifij775 View Post



    I've been pleasantly surprised by the price comparison of the new MBA to the Wintel ultrabooks.


    Same here. The drop in price after adding Haswell was indeed a pleasant surprise. I think Apple recognizes that this form factor may become the dominant one amongst laptops, and is moving aggressively to lock it up.

  • Reply 12 of 30
    Tough choice this fall, MacBook Air
    or 5th generation iPad 4g 128g (maybe 256g?) I got good problems :)
  • Reply 13 of 30
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    But the Air doesn't have touch screen or high res display. How can it be winning? /s
  • Reply 14 of 30
    dreyfus2dreyfus2 Posts: 1,072member
    Uncle Fester just completed his big Whoop-de-doo conference and didn't even mention Haswell chips for the Surface Pro bun warmer. So, how far out can THAT be? 

    Well, at least he said "Surface" once. RT did not score that well.

    (And the Haswell Surface seems to be far out. At least they just announced a 256 GB variant of the old, non Haswell model today - for a paltry $1200.)
  • Reply 15 of 30
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    rogifan wrote: »
    But the Air doesn't have touch screen or high res display. How can it be winning? /s

    But but but Samsung has a retina display in a notebook as light as the MacBook Air. Apple clearly can't compete any more. /s
  • Reply 16 of 30
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member


    Someone at the cafe was using an MBA tonight.  It's just so beautiful, aesthetically.  I wish I could justify getting one.

  • Reply 17 of 30
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    r00fus wrote: »
    Clones are by definition/practice, inferior to the original.

    700
  • Reply 18 of 30
    drealothdrealoth Posts: 79member


    Deservedly so!


     


    I consider myself a pretty open minded tech connoisseur, and yet I can't imagine buying any other think-and-light laptop over the MacBook Air. The only think I can think of reasonably improving on it is a better screen (which is honestly the worst screen Apple sells), and maybe a thinner bezel (would love a 14.x" MacBook Air in the same form factor - but that's a stretch, I know).


     


    But anyway, 12 hours of battery! That's worth any minor faults.


     


    The only PC companies that come close to Apple these days are Sony - which is going through a bit of a Rennaisance, I think, and would be out Apple-ing Apple if they could be shipping OS X machines - and Lenovo, which maddeningly couples the best damn keyboards (better than Apple, I dare say) with the worst screens imaginable.

  • Reply 19 of 30
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    A bit harsh....but I agree with you. :)



    Yeah. Too harsh.. but I agree with him.


  • Reply 20 of 30
    analogjackanalogjack Posts: 1,073member


    Occasionally of late and especially since I've acquired an rMBP, when down at the local mall I would pop into one of the 'hi fi' chains and peruse their array of laptops in a spirit of morbid fascination that people actually purchase this garbage. Bendy plastic cases, horrid tactilely challenge trackpads, screens that look like first generation lcd displays from yesteryear... I postulate to myself that anyone who would willingly purchase this pile of steaming doggy doo, deserves it.

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