Strong sales of MacBook Airs with all-day battery life give Apple its best launch yet
During Apple's quarterly conference call for the third quarter of 2013, CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed the recently refreshed MacBook Air saw its strongest launch since the model was introduced in 2008.
Apple announced on Tuesday that Mac sales for the quarter hit 3.8 million units, a decline year-over-year, but Oppenheimer was pleased with the results. A standout product was the MacBook Air, which was just refreshed in June.
The executive pointed to reviews touting the thin-and-light's all-day battery life and "super fast" Wi-Fi as reasons why the Air performed so well in a declining PC market.
Overall, Apple's Mac business slid 7 percent year-to-year, with revenue decreasing 1 percent. This was in contrast to the overall PC market, which was hit with major setbacks as more consumers move to tablet devices like the iPad.
Oppenheimer was quick to point out that the disparity between Mac sales and industry performance suggests Apple's share of the market has actually increased over the past three months. For example, market research firm IDC estimated the PC segment saw its steepest decline ever in April.
Apple announced on Tuesday that Mac sales for the quarter hit 3.8 million units, a decline year-over-year, but Oppenheimer was pleased with the results. A standout product was the MacBook Air, which was just refreshed in June.
The executive pointed to reviews touting the thin-and-light's all-day battery life and "super fast" Wi-Fi as reasons why the Air performed so well in a declining PC market.
Overall, Apple's Mac business slid 7 percent year-to-year, with revenue decreasing 1 percent. This was in contrast to the overall PC market, which was hit with major setbacks as more consumers move to tablet devices like the iPad.
Oppenheimer was quick to point out that the disparity between Mac sales and industry performance suggests Apple's share of the market has actually increased over the past three months. For example, market research firm IDC estimated the PC segment saw its steepest decline ever in April.
Comments
I was expecting this because it took forever for mine to arrive.
There must also be a lot of folks waiting for refreshes of the macbook pro and imacs. I am one of them.
We are two of them.
What are you getting, lap- or desktop?
Skip that, you're getting an OSX PC, the only way to go.
I'd like to say I'm four but the reality is that I don't know which Mac I will buy next.
^ You should all get a room.
I want a new iMac, but my 2009 iMac is still working as it did the day I opened it. Longest I ever owned ANY computer. I want it to show problems so I have an excuse to buy a new iMac. Damn apple reliability!!!
My mother wants a new iMac; seems a shame not to get her a Haswell one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herbapou
There must also be a lot of folks waiting for refreshes of the macbook pro and imacs. I am one of them.
Not me!
I'm awaiting a Mac Pro
I think the fact they put 128GB at the entry price must have helped somewhat too. 64GB isn't a good amount of storage for a computer. I'd like to see them be even more aggressive with the Mac options going forward, especially the laptops. The 11" as you can see in the following video is a pretty small laptop:
[VIDEO]
It has a large bezel and right now, there's only $100 between the 11" and 13". I'd like to see them put a 14" display into the entry model at $999 and have a black bezel. The entry MBP would differ from it by having a 14" Retina display and a 28W processor vs 15W. The 15" Retina MBP has the quad-core processors and faster GPUs with 55W+ TDP.
Right now, PC buyers looking for a large screen laptop would compare something like the following $429 15":
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i15RV-10000BLK-15-6-Inch-Textured/dp/B00AM7MM84
and see that Apple's cheapest 15" is $1799. Apple's 15" of course has the quad-core and GPU but it doesn't matter to people buying for the display size. At least if they had a 14" at $999, it becomes an option.
I've got that beat by a large margin. I'm still using my 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro 17" (late 2006). When the keyboard started to fall apart on me (one key at a time), I set it aside and built a Hackintosh on an HP 4370s, but that was too much trouble, so I bought a replacement keyboard and I'm back to my nearly 7 year old MBP. I'm on my 3rd battery (the original died after 5 years and the third party replacement only lasted a year and a half) and I replaced the disk drive with an SSD, but other than that, it's working great. The 3 GB RAM limitation is probably the biggest problem.
I'm looking for a new job this summer and will update my machines then. Can't wait for a Haswell MBA and iMac.
ROTFLMAO. 7.2 lb and a 5400 rpm hard disk. That's not even close to being comparable.
I have been holding out for the Mac Pro... but depending on the price point I might scrimp and go with a refreshed iMac. Its a difficult decision and what happens to the TB Displays might swing it one way or the other. (though I really could use the extra power).
I am also waiting on a refreshed mac mini for my replacement server.
It kind of feels like we have been a very slow release cycle recently... with the iMac on a somewhat delayed shipment due to the yield issues. But I look forward to this autumn and the 2014 releases Tim hinted at.
7.2lbs is the shipping weight, the laptop itself is somewhere around 5lbs, which is lighter than the entry 15" MBP at 5.6lbs. The entry MBP also has a 5400 rpm hard disk.
I've seen a few people over the years that just wanted a basic spec 15" and the difference between entry 15" PCs and entry Mac laptops is night and day: <$500 vs $1800. I think Apple could do with offering a lower spec with a larger display. People who need the MBP will get the MBP anyway. When someone looking for an average 15" laptop sees an 11" starting at $999 and 15" PC laptops starting below $500, it's a big disincentive to even venture into the Mac world. A 14" $999 would at least bring them into consideration and things like the PCIe SSD, better software, metal enclosure, battery life, resale value etc sell them on the extra $500 they need to spend.
The PC market is dying, this is where Apple can afford to be aggressive and pull people over that are tired with what PC manufacturers are offering.
Usually it's best to get the latest one, many people wait for that. Some wait for the latest one for a different reason: discount on the current model.
Coming out in Oct sometime. Just wait.
I'm the same way. My 27" was ordered the day after they came out in Nov 2009. I've updated to each new OS X release, and there's never been a serious problem. I use iPhoto mostly for family stuff. A Library integrity check every now and then (35,000+)
The 2TB HD grinds away now and then. I'd love a Fusion drive in there. We'll see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordio
I want a new iMac, but my 2009 iMac is still working as it did the day I opened it. Longest I ever owned ANY computer. I want it to show problems so I have an excuse to buy a new iMac. Damn apple reliability!!!
I'm the same way. My 27" was ordered the day after they came out in Nov 2009. I've updated to each new OS X release, and there's never been a serious problem. I use iPhoto mostly for family stuff. A Library integrity check every now and then (35,000+)
The 2TB HD grinds away now and then. I'd love a Fusion drive in there. We'll see.