Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) just can't stop taking market share in one area or another. The iPod and iPhone maker was found in a recent study by research house NPD Group to have about 66% of the PC market for machines costing more than $1,000. Although the majority of PCs don't sell for over $1,000, Apple's still kickin' it when it comes to those nicer PCs.Apple's current share of the U.S. PC market stands at 14% which is impressive considering it's grown that figure in every quarter since 2007. The company's retail store presence has been a success, and the brand euphoria from the iPhone's debut almost a year ago has helped Mac sales continue to grow.
This isn't some overnight success story, though. PC competitors such as Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) ship millions of sub-$1,000 PCs every quarter, but Apple only has one PC below that price point, the diminutive Mac Mini, which does not even come with a keyboard, mouse or monitor.
A customer can buy a fully-equipped desktop of laptop PC (non-Apple) for that price -- so why doesn't Apple compete better in the sub-$1,000 space? Because it doesn't have to. Its brand and product designs command premium prices and customers seem eager as anything to pay those prices. That's the power Apple has -- one that any manufacturer in any industry would love to have.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-20-2008 @ 1:03PM
Dru Richman said...
You said: "... so why doesn't Apple compete better in the sub-$1,000 space?
A better question would be, "Why would Apple want to compete in a market segment that makes approximately 5% profit per machine when they can compete in a market segment that makes them approximately 26% rofit per machine?
5-20-2008 @ 1:19PM
Phineasfogg said...
Apple does one thing no other PC maker does: provide a computer or laptop that has nearly everything that 90% of us need or want fully integrated out-of-the-box. Plug and play is not a marketing saying, it is the real thing.
In the course of a year, prior to Leopard, I would get one or two crashes IN A YEAR!!! All of my PC friends get crashes every day of the year.
5-20-2008 @ 2:23PM
Brian said...
Mac as always been a better computer, hands-down. It's just that now since Intel chips have surpassed other chips, and Apple switched to Intel, you can run anything on a Mac. in fact, it runs faster on a Mac than on a 'generic' PC you can buy. All the HP/Dell etc... are just branded generic PCs, they do no actual development even in Hardware, let alone absolutely NOTHING in software.
Apple does it all, always has, and the others just copy it badly. They want their marketshare back.