We'd be lying if we said that we weren't a bit skeptical when Apple sent us a note touting their new notebook marketshare numbers. According to the numbers from marketing research group, NPD, the Cupertino company managed to capture a 17.6-percent notebook marketshare, for the month of June. According to separate numbers from research firm, IDC, the company claimed the number three spot among notebook manufacturers.
Apple has been on an undeniable upswing in the past couple of years, but was there some tricky wording here? Does "retail" include online? If not, that would knockout some major contenders, such as Dell.
We contacted a representative at NPD, to get to the bottom of the numbers. Was there something Apple wasn't telling us? In a word, "nope." That 17.6-percent includes commercial reseller, e-commerce, and retail numbers. Not bad at all, especially considering the fact that all of the refreshes that Apple has made to the Macbook and Macbook Pro models recently have been relatively minor.
There is one thing that Apple does have over all other notebook manufacturers: free iPods. As far as promotions go, it's tough to beat the allure of a free iPod nano with the purchase of an Apple notebook. Tricky, maybe, but when you consider the fact that what you're really getting is a $199 rebate on the purchase of another Apple product, the promotion is a bit more like leveling the playing field for consumers, given the fact that Macs tend toward the pricier end of the PC spectrum.
The new numbers mark a 2.2 percent increase over the same period last year. Was it due entirely to the nano promotion? Well, that certainly couldn't have hurt. NPD will be posting their July numbers after Labor Day. The nano promotion, meanwhile, will continue until September.
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August 22, 2007 9:06 PM
Hello Brian Heater
Thank you for sharing this story.
I used to think that Macs will never go mainstream. I think I will have to eat my words as I myself is on the lookout for my very first Mac and have decided on a MacBook Pro.
With the promotions going on, Apple has made their line of Macs much harder to resist. Although I might give it a miss since I am not buying one anytime sooner.
Hope to hear more stories from you soon.
Regards,
Rezdwan Hamid
August 23, 2007 8:21 AM
I think I might have to jump in and get one! Hard to resist at this price.
August 23, 2007 9:50 AM
Talk about a begrudging compliment to Apple. The writer had to invent a swerve ("does that include online?), just to deny it... AFTER THE JUMP. And even still, he has to degrade the Apple by implying that it's all about the iPod.
Can't you just admit that Apple products are good and that lots of people like them?
August 23, 2007 10:37 AM
It also should be noted that the NPD folks are on vacation, and that their representatives simply confirmed the Apple numbers. When we asked for the marketshare information of the other vendors, the representative declined, barring the analyst's approval. They will provide them next week, however.
-Mark Hachman, PC Magazine
August 23, 2007 11:14 AM
Hi 'SciPunk,'
For the record, I'm a huge Apple fan. I've been using Macs as my primary PC for my entire life, save the period between 9-5 on weekdays, when that isn't really an option. This does, however, include that long period of Apple software drought that was the 1990s. And yes, like just about everyone else on the face of the earth, I've been through a handful of iPods.
The fact of the the matter is that you've always got to take these numbers sent to you through PR channels with a grain of salt. So we waited, as Mark notes, for the NPD numbers. Due to the staff shortage at the time, it took us an extra day to get them.
In the meantime, I recalled the promotion they were running. The fact of the matter is that these numbers, compared to a few years ago, are impressive by nearly any standard. However, the importance of the nano promotion can't be understated. On another personal note, a friend of mine went in for the MacBook/iPod promotion last weekend (with my blessing, naturally).
Did she or anyone else specifically buy a Mac solely because of a $199 coupon? I hope not--I hope people are buying them because they prefer the OS and the Apple craftsmanship. Did the allure of a free iPod affect the June numbers? Almost certainly.