Apple Market share is at 7% (portables)

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
This is good news for a change.



Apple PowerBooks, iBooks Take 7% of Notebook Market



article here
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Wow, I am surprised, given how lackluster Apples notebooks are (aside from design). I mean these machines really need an update, so you think that they wouldn't be selling well.
  • Reply 2 of 25
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Given that they're quite powerful, and given that design is extremely important in the laptop space (it means a lot more than "make it pretty") it's not surprising it all.



    Find one other laptop like the 17" PowerBook that won't throw your shoulder out, or which will open on a tray table, or which has a worthwhile battery life, or which has anything like the ruggedness or fit and finish - in other words, find another truly portable desktop.
  • Reply 3 of 25
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Yevgeny

    Wow, I am surprised, given how lackluster Apples notebooks are (aside from design). I mean these machines really need an update, so you think that they wouldn't be selling well.



    Surely you're joking. You must be. I've not heard the term "lackluster" used to describe Apple's notebooks in a LONG time.
  • Reply 4 of 25
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Lackluster, no. In serious need of an update, yes. Apple's laptops are wonderful, they just have components that would have been really cool about five or six months ago. Increase the speed of each one by 200 MHz, step up the graphics cards a little (Radeon 9000m/GeForce 440 Go in iBooks, Radeon 9600m/GeForce 4200 Go in PowerBooks), and make the hard drives bigger, and there's your laptop update. The prices are already good.



    However, most laptop users aren't as concerned with speed as they are with usability and convenience, so in that regard Apple is a leader in the market. The 17" PowerBook is lighter and more compact than most 15" PC laptops.
  • Reply 5 of 25
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    The 17" is very nice, but I really doubt that it will fit on a Coach class table. Business and 1st Class, yes.
  • Reply 6 of 25
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    See desktop marketshare. See relative desktop prices.



    Seee laptop marketshare. See relative laptop prices.



    Shake head.



    And then there's the significant design element, not styling, but as Amorph pointed out, design.
  • Reply 7 of 25
    Does Apple have the same margins (around 28%) on both the desktop models and laptops?
  • Reply 8 of 25
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by torifile

    Surely you're joking. You must be. I've not heard the term "lackluster" used to describe Apple's notebooks in a LONG time.



    An 867 MHz G4 in a 15 inch Ti book is lackluster in my book. Is it capable? Yes. Is it something that I want to go out and buy? No way. Why? The specs lag. How long has the 15 incher been stuck at its current specs? Too long.



    As far as industrial design goes, Apple is tops and probably will always be tops. They need to bump their CPU and GPU upwards. Yes, I know how useful design is (my dell weighs in at 10 pounds).



    All I am saying is that when Apple updates their laptops, they will not be so lackluster in my book, and yes, right now, lackluster is all about the CPU speeds that haven't really gone anywhere this year.



    Oh yeah, the 167 MHz Bus has gotten WAY too old...

    167 MHz Bus == lackluster
  • Reply 9 of 25
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    I can't remember where I heard this (pinch of salt, etc...) but Apple's alleged manufacturing cost for Lapzilla is less than $2000.
  • Reply 10 of 25
    yevgenyyevgeny Posts: 1,148member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matsu

    See desktop marketshare. See relative desktop prices.



    Seee laptop marketshare. See relative laptop prices.



    Shake head.



    And then there's the significant design element, not styling, but as Amorph pointed out, design.




    Laptops can't be assembled by technically inclined end users.

    Laptops require greater reliability and ruggedness than desktops



    I think that most people understand these and that they are willing to pay more for a laptop on the basis of "it is well built" than they are for some desktop case that just sits in a corner.
  • Reply 11 of 25
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Yevgeny

    Laptops can't be assembled by technically inclined end users.

    Laptops require greater reliability and ruggedness than desktops



    I think that most people understand these and that they are willing to pay more for a laptop on the basis of "it is well built" than they are for some desktop case that just sits in a corner.




    I think his point was that Apple's laptops are comparable in price to other PC manufacturers and they are doing well. Desktops aren't and they aren't doing well. He's confused why Apple doesn't clue into this fact. (Not to speak for Matsu, but I know his story well enough )
  • Reply 12 of 25
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    Nice... but, still a long way to go. We need the platform to be at least around 30% to make any impact into the crapy Windows world.



    Dell 26.6

    Hewlett Packard 20.3

    Toshiba 9.6

    IBM 9.3

    Apple 7

    Gateway 4.1



    Mac = 7% Platform to platform these numbers suck!:
  • Reply 13 of 25
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Look on the bright side: Which PC maker's laptops are most frequently compared to Apple's? Sony. Where's Sony?



    Dell's market share indicates the extent of their corporate penetration (in so many senses). I know a lot of people with Dell laptops. They were all given Dell laptops. They all hate them, and use them as if they expected them to fall apart or flake out at any moment.



    Not without reason: One of the developers I worked with did all his file manipulation from the DOS prompt because any time he opened an Explorer window there was about a 50% chance that the CPU would peg at 100% and the whole machine would grind to a halt.
  • Reply 14 of 25
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Yeah, if you want a PC laptop that weighs 5 lbs, gets 3.5 real hours of battery life, has a real graphics card, and has a built-in Combo drive, you'll end up spending almost as much as you would for an iBook. Some may be cheaper, some may be more expensive, but Apple isn't priced horribly for their laptops. So even though they have slow processor speeds (really the only issue with iBooks and PowerBooks right now), it's okay because their industrial design is great. Laptops are doing well despite the lack of refreshes.



    Desktops though... oy. Sure, the G5s are good because they're basically in a class by themselves, but how much does the equivalent to a 17" iMac cost? Let's see... $800 or so for the computer, assuming you buy it new (you could get one as good for $600 if you build your own), and $500 for a 17" LCD. That's $1100-$1300 depending on how you do it. Sure, it won't win any style points, but it'll be just as powerful or more, and it costs so much less that it's difficult for even Mac fans to justify the cost. Think about what a PC user would think about that. Those $500 extra buys you a nice industrial design and the ability to run Mac OS (priceless to us, but not to potential switchers). It's the same situation for the 15" iMac - just replace the $800 PC with a $500 one, and a $500 monitor with a $300 one. The eMac isn't as bad but if Apple doesn't want to have any machines sell for under $799 then they should at least put something a bit better than a CD-ROM drive in the low end. Like a CD-RW or Combo. It could still be 800 MHz for now.



    Laptops just need a refresh. Desktops need an overhaul.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    What percent of the laptop market does Sony have?



    Also, I know someone with quite a few Dell laptops. He has three tiny 3 lb Latitute X200s lying around his house charging from the wall, so whenever he wants he can just pick one up and surf the web (he has wireless internet). He also has one of those new Inspirons with the 15" wide screen and the huge resolution. It's sharp but usually tough to read. However it can play UT 2003 at 1600x1200 and MAX settings with no hiccups whatsoever, so it's a really fast machine. He doesn't seem to have too many problems with his computers, and he sure has a lot. Because he runs a web hosting company from his home, he gets T1 and he has about two dozen computers (Macs and PCs both) lying around the house. Every few months he invites his friends over to play games...



    I haven't used Dell laptops (or Dells in general) very much though so I really can't comment on reliability. PCs all seem the same to me.
  • Reply 16 of 25
    Have you seen the Toshiba 17" mini desktop(I mean laptop). That thing may be $1000 less than a PB but it's not even in the same class as a 17" PB. IMHO, the only intel based laptop that rates close to a PB is Sony's Viaos.
  • Reply 17 of 25
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ThinkingDifferent

    Have you seen the Toshiba 17" mini desktop(I mean laptop). That thing may be $1000 less than a PB but it's not even in the same class as a 17" PB. IMHO, the only intel based laptop that rates close to a PB is Sony's Viaos.



    The point isn't the quality. We all know Apple's better in every way, both in hardware and software. The point is... no matter how better Apple's stuff is, the majority aren't aware of it. For all intents and purposes, Windows is the only OS that is recognized by the masses. \ No matter how many viruses, security holes, crashes together with an all around a$$ backwards OS Windows is... That's the oddity... It's amazing that we have come this far tech wise with such a stupid society.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    7%? Wow. Imagine how high it could be if more people KNEW about them...



    \



    (don't get me started...it's late)
  • Reply 19 of 25
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Pscates, mebbe you and I ought to get together and write the infomercial and pitch it to Apple?



    You can play the informed chic mac urbanite and I'll play the masturbating PC Ludite who happens upon Apple between late night TV-Stripper segments. We can do a whole breaking the 4th wall, play with-in a play thing?



    I'll be happy with 1 dollar per machine sold over a 1 year run of the infomercial, wanna bet it wouldn't be at least a million additional sales?
  • Reply 20 of 25
    To the average laptop consumer who doesn't know much about Apple laptops, I just don't forsee them forking out so much extra money for something that they only perceive as "pretty".



    Half the people I talk to don't know anything about apple laptops other than the fact that they look damn good. but when they look at the price tag, they cringe.



    The average consumer just doesn't care as much about these things. They just want something that can do their basic needs. For the rest of us that do care, Apple laptops are definately the way to go



    Apple laptops have to go down in price in order to even begin getting a larger market share. And secondly, someone please inform students that ms office runs on osx ... sigh.
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