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NPD: Macs represent 48% of US desktop retail revenue

By

On November 26, 2009, 5:50 PM EST

According to NPD, Apple's Mac desktop computers accounted for nearly half of the United States' desktop retail revenue in October. The outfit said iMacs, Mac minis and Mac Pros represented 47.71% of the revenue from desktops at the retail level.

That figure is impressive when compared to previously recorded revenue shares. For instance, in October 2008 Mac desktops held about 33%. Apple's notebook business has also increased from 30% revenue share in April 2009 to 34% last month -- though that is still less than the 38% from a year ago. Conversely, Windows desktops and laptops held the remaining 52% and 66% of revenue share.

US Computer Revenue Data: October 2009
Computer Retail Revenue Share Average Selling Price
Windows Desktop 52% $491
Mac Desktop 48% $1,338
Windows Laptop 66% $519
Mac Laptop 34% $1,410

Some of Apple's gain can be attributed with the release of its updated iMacs during the same period that Windows PC sales fell ahead of Windows 7's October 22 launch, said NPD's vice president of industry analysis, Stephen Baker. He added, "While those are great numbers, that's probably not sustainable."

That said, even with a 40% revenue share, Apple would be well ahead of any single company selling Windows PCs.

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User Comments (45)

Post a comment
manintech
on November 27, 2009
6:32 AM

The only apple product I bought is iphone, and I gave it up and switched to android after a few months. I don't think i'll ever try any other apple products in the future.

Reply

fref
on November 27, 2009
6:35 AM

I keep saying that if Apple's prices were more in the line of PC prices, their market share would skyrocket. Nobody wants to pay 300% more for a computer that doesn't do more than the average PC.

Reply

Guest
on November 27, 2009
8:01 AM

there are 2 different ppl will willing to buy mac pc, 1. pro users, they use more than 50% of mac, 2, fashion users, these ppl paying 300% more price and use less than 5% of mac. Now, 95%of mac users are fashion users. they don't understand pc at all, no matter how you explain it.

most of the hackers are not interest in making virus in mac system.

Reply

Fada
on November 27, 2009
8:52 AM

Its beacuse they are a luxury item, simple as that, most people who buy them have no problem dropping 10 grand on a desktop, i used to work in a factory making the things and most of the computers they spit out would have 3 graphics cards, 16gigs of memory and two -four core procesors. ridicluous is not the word for it.

Reply

harby
on November 27, 2009
9:17 AM

I love the average selling price differences.

Reply

buttus
on November 27, 2009
9:21 AM

The cost differential between Mac and PC is staggering. I suppose that is why Apple is so concerned with the usability of Windows 7 as their "I'm a Mac" commercials have taken on a distinctly nasty tone of late.

Reply

BlackIrish
on November 27, 2009
9:44 AM

Macs don't actually use a BIOS as PC's do - Macs use EFI, so that's why they cost so much. EFI is like really important and makes all the difference in the world - it can even address partitions that are bigger then 2TB (a PC BIOS can't).

But literally, that's the only hardware difference that Macs have, yet they are 3x more expensive and sell like hot cakes

Reply

guyfred26
on November 27, 2009
10:22 AM

Mac desktop has to reduce their price to more competitive with Windows. Although they have an advantage on having little virus infection. But Windows 7 is now on release and will attracht more sales from their competitor. It will be good for consumers to have many option to choose from.

Reply

timljh
on November 27, 2009
10:25 AM

windows or mac, the biggest winner in this case will be Intel...

Reply

Vicenarian
on November 27, 2009
12:17 PM

So this article, in essence, is telling us that:

1) Macs cost almost 3X that of a comparable PC

2) The amount of sales revenue generated by Mac sales nearly rivals PCs...

3) Therefore, for every 3 PCs sold, one Mac is sold. (I think)

4) People are willing to spend 3X more money on a Mac because of clever marketing.

And...

5) If everybody switched to Linux, we would all save a lot of money.

Reply

9Nails
on November 27, 2009
12:24 PM

BMfan said:

Can someone please explain why is a mac worth almost 3x more,plz don't say because its not windows,then you haven't tried 7.

Seriously. I don't know why either, and it's not quality of hardware.I've seen plenty of Mac products fail due to bad capacitors just as many PC counterparts have. And often their unique shaped logic board designs lead to expensive out of warranty repairs. But if anything it might be ease of use and access to media, such as camcorders or still cameras. And it might also be due to outstanding customer service.

Reply

Hyperian
on November 27, 2009
2:38 PM

Well, they can charge expensively for average components because they're not just selling a computer. They're selling a live style, a way of living, and people buy into it because they want to stand out.

Reply

TorturedChaos
on November 27, 2009
8:14 PM

they may be about even with M$ with revenue shares but they only have to sell 1 machine for every 2-3 that runs Windows. I don't see macs passing windows really ever. There is too much software that only runs windows for mac to out pace windows completely.

Reply

stwongbad85
on November 27, 2009
11:04 PM

even more proof that Macs are over priced

Reply

ken777
on November 28, 2009
4:02 PM

With pricing differences like this, Microsoft should go back to running more Laptop Hunter style ads. They really hit Apple where it hurts.

Reply

ET3D
on November 30, 2009
8:36 AM

fref said:

Nobody wants to pay 300% more for a computer that doesn't do more than the average PC.

fref must be commenting on another news item...

Considering how much Mac users are willing to pay for their computer, I wonder how much they pay for software. Any statistics?

Reply

Arthurik_jan
on November 30, 2009
9:22 AM

@ slh28: I agree with you in the fact that it is not that simple to upgrade a Mac and when you look at it from this perspective it definitely is aiding the sale volumes in a way.

I just want to say that I am a PC user and my relatives and friends have been coming after me for advice and help regarding computer purchases for the last 10 years and throughout the last month alone I've installed Windows into 3 Macbooks.

My personal opinion based on the reasons why my friends and family are purchasing Macs is that the quality with which Macs are made is just unmatched. In addition to this, their new marketing campaign on their website is just outstanding. After having seen it my brother purchased an iPhone 3GS instead of a HTC Touch Pro 2.

Reply

claycc
on November 30, 2009
9:46 AM

I can't believe people will pay so much for a Mac. For the average price of a Mac deskop I could put together a killer PC. Mac has been doing really with their marketing campaign and have a strong brand image of a quality product. Combine that with the failure of Vista and I guess a lot of people are hopping over to Macs.

Reply

IvanAwfulitch
on November 30, 2009
7:55 PM

Vicenarian said:

5) If everybody switched to Linux, we would all save a lot of money.

What little money you save by using Linux is spent in time and effort keeping it up to date and working. I've said it before; Linux forces you to practically rebuild it every other day because of added support for various features and patches and whatnot. It's ridiculously taxing on patience and effort to keep it working. And it hardly supports enough hardware to work effectively on all platforms.

Reply

Guest
on December 16, 2009
1:13 PM

Really? So how many computers(not OS's)did Microsoft sell last year? And how many Xbox-es have been sold by Windows? Wich hardware brands are owned by Microsoft?

Reply

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