Apple market share is down, again

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple captured 3.2 percent of the U.S. market share in 2003, down from 3.5 percent a year ago, according to research firm IDC. The company shipped 1.675 million Macs in 2003, compared with 1.679 units in 2002. Apple's worldwide market share remained under 2 percent in 2003.



The bleeding just continues, even as Apple is seemigly firing on all cylindels. Can Apple survive as a computer company? I'm asking this seriously, as a shareholder and as someone that loves Macs, and been using them exclusively for many many years. I'm really getting concerned that year over year less and less macs are being sold.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 107
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    And yet year over year, Apple is doing better financially, technologically, and their *mind*share is up from a few years ago.
  • Reply 2 of 107
    doesn't matter, according to Steve: "Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?"



    From the new Macworld 20th anniversary issue.
  • Reply 3 of 107
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    You sound like my dad's stock broker from a few years ago, the time when there was real concern about Apple's future. He said to not buy Apple stock because they would either go belly up, or their market share would shrink even more. Proved him wrong didn't they? Maybe the stock isn't the smartest investment, I'm not here to tell you that, that's what your broker is for. As far as Apple's future, I would say that it hasn't looked brighter in a good number of years. Apple is here to stay, no doubt in my mind.
  • Reply 4 of 107
    That's the point I'm trying to make. Things never seemed brighter, yet not only overall market share is shrinking, less and less Macs are being sold.
  • Reply 5 of 107
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    While I do wish Apple's share would grow to a stable number around 10%, I'm not overly concerned.



    Ask yourself these questions:



    -Are developers making money by supporting Apple?

    -Does an installed user base of 30 million provide an opportunity for revenue?

    -Does 4.8 billion S in the bank look like a company on the brink of collapse?

    -And should Apple collapse, would there not be someone who would swoop in and buy it for the brand?



    Just food for thought...but I think things aren't as bad as some may make it out...especially analysts.
  • Reply 6 of 107
    The G5 is here. Yet, Power Mac sales fell to 206,000 units from 221,000 in the previous quarter. And we all know sales of the iMac are a sad joke.



    \
  • Reply 7 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacUsers

    doesn't matter, according to Steve: "Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?"



    From the new Macworld 20th anniversary issue.




    There's nothing wrong with being BMW or Mercedes, because no matter how low their market share gets, all roads will still be compatible with them.
  • Reply 8 of 107
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Blue Shift

    That's the point I'm trying to make. Things never seemed brighter, yet not only overall market share is shrinking, less and less Macs are being sold.



    Market share is over rated. The wintell world has 90 some odd % of the market right now, but they suck. Apple builds a quality product and sells more than enough of them to stay afloat. I know market share can be important, Apple has proved over and over again that they don't need market share to stay on top of the game. I'm thinking with all the new things coming from Apple in the next year (G5 PBs, faster PMs, new iBooks? new iPods? (don't bother pointing out that iPods don't count for PC market share)) you'll see their market share jump a little. They are on the right track.
  • Reply 9 of 107
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    As the Unix core of MacOS evolves, and as open standards are (thankfully) swinging on the rise, and as even the king of proprietary formats, MS themselves, are getting on the XML bandwagon (er, sorta)...



    More and more is becoming compatible.



    Data is the fuel of computing, networking is the roads. As those two become more open, Macs have less to worry about.



    Apps are more like spare parts - it's easy to find a carburetor for a '68 Chevy, but a bit harder for an '73 BMW 2002tii, and you'll likely pay a bit more for the esoteric one. But you can still use the same fuel and drive on the same roads. (And even then, the Unix layer guarantees that at least the driveline will always be fixable... )
  • Reply 10 of 107
    Ah... is there any computer issue that can't be reduced to a car analogy?
  • Reply 11 of 107
  • Reply 12 of 107
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Fawkes

    Ah... is there any computer issue that can't be reduced to a car analogy?



    Hey, you started it.
  • Reply 13 of 107
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Smaller market share doesn't mean fewer computers sold, nor does it indicate anything about the installed base. It means, in this context, that the overall number of machines shipped last quarter grew faster than the overall number of Macs shipped. Apple shipped 12% more Macs than they had the previous quarter.



    Furthermore, PCs end up as point-of-sale systems and in other specialized roles where the Mac is simply not a significant presence. Apple's share in higher education is increasing rapidly, and their share of the consumer market is past 7% and gaining. I certainly see more iBooks and PowerBooks around now than I've seen in years.



    Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Apple make some real gains in market share. It's taken to be more significant than it is, but that's still a problem that Apple needs to address. However, it doesn't mean sales are shrinking, or that the company is shrinking or in trouble. It's a problem, but it's not a crisis.
  • Reply 14 of 107
    evoevo Posts: 198member
    You'd think that with all these Apple Stores in the US, their marketshare would be increasing.
  • Reply 15 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    Smaller market share doesn't mean fewer computers sold,

    .

    .

    .

    However, it doesn't mean sales are shrinking, or that the company is shrinking or in trouble.






    The company shipped 1.675 million Macs in 2003, compared with 1.679 units in 2002.
  • Reply 16 of 107
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    i think market share will be on the rise as more pc users buy music from the itunes store, and lead to more ipod sales. when they buy the ipod, its put them in the store with macs (presumably the store they buy ipods from sells computers). its hard to not buy a mac when you are standing next to it. a co-worker walked up to me a few weeks ago, and said he was going to buy an ipod for his daughter (or son, i dont remember). but in the store he saw the imac-fp's, and since he's in the market for a new computer he's interested. i walked him through some of his fears, and he said he'd probably buy one that weekend. [i haven't spoken to him since, as we don't work together nor in the same department, but i assume that he did buy that comp and ipod.] the theory will take a little while to prove though, as it has several steps: (a) itunes store sales, (b) ipod sales, then (c) mac sales. but i think it has a chance. right now apple dominates the legitimate online music sales business. the main presumption in the theory is that people will buy ipods to play their music. i think its reasonable though.
  • Reply 17 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Blue Shift

    Apple captured 3.2 percent of the U.S. market share in 2003, down from 3.5 percent a year ago, according to research firm IDC. The company shipped 1.675 million Macs in 2003, compared with 1.679 units in 2002. Apple's worldwide market share remained under 2 percent in 2003.



    The bleeding just continues, even as Apple is seemigly firing on all cylindels. Can Apple survive as a computer company? I'm asking this seriously, as a shareholder and as someone that loves Macs, and been using them exclusively for many many years. I'm really getting concerned that year over year less and less macs are being sold.




    actually its not that less macs are being sold. I think in the consumer market, more macs are being sold, the top pc companies, especially dell, sell tons more pcs to corporations, thousands at a pop, all those add up, if you took that away the numbers would be lower.

    \
  • Reply 18 of 107
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    their share of the consumer market is past 7% and gaining. I certainly see more iBooks and PowerBooks around now than I've seen in years.





    this doesn't seem right. any sources to support this?
  • Reply 19 of 107
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    And yet year over year, Apple is doing better financially, technologically, and their *mind*share is up from a few years ago.



    Is that why Connectix decided to sell VirtualPC to Microsoft and die?
  • Reply 20 of 107
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacUsers

    doesn't matter, according to Steve: "Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?"



    Well... 3% of market share from a market where you have hundreds competing therein is not the same as 3% from a market where you have what... 3 competing? Windows, Mac and Linux. 3% is NOT good.



    Don't get me wrong, I do not believe the Mac is dying, nonetheless, I do think the Mac's market share does play a role in it's widespread adoption. While the numbers aren't very encouraging, I do see Apple finally ready to go forward and gain market share.



    Many do not realized the difference between Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft never had to create it's market, it was already there with an established customer base handed over to to them by IBM. No great feat there. Apple on the other hand has had to create it's own market from nothing while up against a monopoly. First by IBM's monopoly that was then passed on to Microsoft. Add to that that this monopoly has consistently reduced the Mac's advantage by stealing it's UI design from Apple.



    The only way the Mac OS is ever going to make a difference is by innovating it's way away from the competition. That's what Steve Jobs does best. Had he not been betrayed by Apple itself in Apple's early days we would be in a much better place today. It takes time to create something from nothing, but even longer to rebuild it amidst an even stronger monopoly.
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