Apple Shows Strong Growth, Captures 2/3 of Expensive PC Market

[zekrahminator]

Despite all the criticism Apple has gotten throughout the years, they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. While the United States has economic issues that might otherwise prevent an investment in expensive technology, and the rest of the world becomes more eco-friendly, Apple is happy and/or smug to report that two out of three pre-built computers that cost $1k or more were built by Apple. Even in the market that isn't tres-chic, Apple is doing very well for themselves, boasting a 14% market share in all computers sold in Q1 2008. According to the vice president of analyst firm NPD, the sales of Apple computers are about as likely to decline as oil prices. "In notebooks [Apple is] growing two times the market; Windows notebooks are pretty much flat right now. IMacs are growing and the Windows desktop ain't. No matter how you look at it, Apple is outperforming Windows."

Source: DailyTech

[panchoman]

you go apple! (and port leopard to my comp while you're at it so i can ditch this windooze shit)

[jocksteeluk]

They Apple systems just ooze style even if some of the specs aren't that impressive, it's style over substance really but it doesn't surprise me knowing how good the Apple marketing is.

If you're not into gaming and you want to blow lots of money on a high-end PC then an Apple makes sense, so I'm not at all surprised about this 'news'. Truthfully the big money would be better spent at Maingear or OPC, but most people just don't know any better...

[ghost101]

This type of news is always something which i find wierd.

If you read the comments people clarify that this is only brick and mortar sales, i.e. through retails channels and therefore excluding all business sales and home built pcs. So they basically only compete against the more expensive HP systems in stores and the few stores which sell XPS/Alienware systems.

However, apple's presence there is really big relative to say the UK. I know absolutely no one who owns an imac, mac pro and only one person with the mini. In the desktop market they are pretty much nonexistent. Of course the laptop domain is completely different with so many students and young adults with macbooks around.

Maybe its to do with apple's pricing in the UK being ridiculous. But it does seem to be a cultural difference of some sorts.

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObje...F4JXY4AHCAJCDF

[panchoman]

mac laptops are so common here and imacs are found in almost every home where i live (yes i live in an area with rich people)

and guess what, its because of leopard and looks. people love the macbook air, or the power of the macbook pro, and leopard beats the living shit outta windows when it comes to non-gaming uses and its extremely stable. the average joe doesn't need overclocking, loud fans, or watercooling. why wouldn't people get quiet good looking products with an excellent OS?

[DrPepper]

Windows is extremely stable assuming you don't mess around with the settings too much . I read somewhere that 95% of windows errors were caused by the user that was a long time ago though

[panchoman]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

Windows is extremely stable assuming you don't mess around with the settings too much . I read somewhere that 95% of windows errors were caused by the user that was a long time ago though

most of the windows vista crashs are attributed to drivers.. mac doesn't have this problem because leopard only runs on apple hardware.

[DrPepper]

Originally Posted by panchoman

most of the windows vista crashs are attributed to drivers.. mac doesn't have this problem because leopard only runs on apple hardware.

Yes but the disadvantage is if you need more computing power in the future upgrading is impossible unless apple sells different GPU's guarenteed to work on a mac. The driver crashes were the main reason I was begging my mum to buy herself a mac instead of windows because I hate being asked to fix the wireless internet every day

[panchoman]

you can get 8800gt's for macs...

[DrPepper]

I know but what for ... just kidding. Only recently though before that a mac pro shipped with a 7300 For the cost of a mac pro you would think they would beef it up with top of the range hardware I mean e.g. 8800 Ultra.

[panchoman]

sure lets burn our user's laps with an uber power hungry heat monster called the 8800 ultra

seriously, 8800 gtx and ultra's require massive dual slot cooling.. no freaking way it'd ever work in a slim passive cooling system in a laptop

[DrPepper]

I mean the Mac pro the one that looks like a huge cheese grater. On the side of the laptops excluding the macbook air they are fabulous I got to use one in school was nice it seemed like a slideshow because there was no lag like on the school's pc's

[thebeephaha]

Originally Posted by panchoman

mac laptops are so common here and imacs are found in almost every home where i live (yes i live in an area with rich people)

and guess what, its because of leopard and looks. people love the macbook air, or the power of the macbook pro, and leopard beats the living shit outta windows when it comes to non-gaming uses and its extremely stable. the average joe doesn't need overclocking, loud fans, or watercooling. why wouldn't people get quiet good looking products with an excellent OS?

I love my MacBook Pro but I hate it too. The hardware failures on it is astonishing, I've had just about every major part fail minus the motherboard which I'm hoping is next so I can get a new machine...

BUT. Despite the failures. It is a wonderful laptop, its size to performance ratio is great and I get OSX and Windows in one machine. Sure it was overpriced but IMO for me it was worth it.

And yes for non gaming OSX > Windows.

[timta2]

Luckily for you Apple is pretty much #1 in the support game.

[dccool879]

Hey guyz! screw windows! I hate microsoft sw, it SUCKS! disregard the fact that directX was built by MS, and all my games on my gaming PC are directx. too bad macs r too exp!!! lolz!!! bc their os's are so sweet! wish their hw was cheepeR, bc then i culd play sweet openGL games RIFK

(jk)

when i see Microsoft hating on these forums by gamers and graphic enthusiasts, it seems kind of odd

my grep against MS is that all their sw is proprietary, but unfortunately that is how you get to the top

[patton45]

Ok seriously did a kid write this article. I have a few issues with this article. I am a pc and mac supporter woot! This was horribly written what does apples sales of desktops can not be directly compared to how microsoft is doing. IF you look into the numbers there has been a steady increase of desktops and laptops from apple that are coming with windows. But also there is not a computer in apples lineup that is below 1000$ that means every computer they build fits this category. Yes apple is gaining big on laptops with windows software but that cant be all blamed on microsoft. The hardware manufactures are really the key behind it all they cant offer a superior product in quality and style to the mac they have tried unsuccessfully. I find it funny that this article is trying to compare two totally different company's. Maybe its just me but i just feel that you cant compare a companies earnings and market share in hardware and software to a company that primarily makes software. I have also begun to notice that the particular writer at daily tech is a huge microsoft basher and seems to take the chance in almost every article or post of his to bash them. so i would take it with a grain of salt imo

[Rebo&Zooty]

Originally Posted by panchoman

you can get 8800gt's for macs...

yeah for only 2-3x the price to!!!

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by Rebo&Zooty

yeah for only 2-3x the price to!!!

Nah. Only 55% more. lol.

[magibeg]

"I'm so unique I'm going to express myself through someone else's product"

Usually runs through my mind when i talk to mac people and they mention they want something different than a regular pc. I can see how they're doing well but i personally hate them so much for some reason. For one of my classes we had to use macs while learning flash and i must have crashed that bugger over a half dozen times. And it contains very annoying features sometimes.

Had a file named pool.jpg.
Re-named said file to oldpool.jpg.
Dropped in a new file called pool.jpg.
Called the file pool.jpg. from another program and it loads the original pool file instead of the new one.

Apparently the mac is sooo good it remembered that oldpool.jpg used to just be named pool using some special prefetch feature.

[XooM]

The expensive market? Otherwise known as the... Overpriced Apple Market?

Because seriously, who really buys alienwares or Falcon Northwests or Voodoo PCs?

[Rebo&Zooty]

Originally Posted by XooM

The expensive market? Otherwise known as the... Overpriced Apple Market?

Because seriously, who really buys alienwares or Falcon Northwests or Voodoo PCs?

ppl with to much $ and/or the kind of ppl who want to brag about their system by its name, same basick ilk as mac users really.......they all think because their systems name is XXX that means they are better then somebody whos on a self built