Apple takes lion's share of retail upmarket PC sales

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 02:20

Opinion and Analysis

Apple is sometimes derided for its single-digit market share, but there's a segment where it is doing extraordinarily well. It shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that segment is exactly where the company has chosen to compete.

According to NPD Group's research, Apple supplied an amazing 66 percent of computers sold in US stores for $US1000 or more.

Some commentators will tell you that Apple's overall market share growth is due to the popularity of the MacBook family, and Apple's own most recent figures show a bigger growth in notebook sales (61 percent year-on-year) than for desktops (37 percent).

But that's growth. NPD's figures show Apple took 70 percent of this market for desktop models, compared with 64 percent for notebooks.

With Apple's latest 10-Q filing showing "net sales per Macintosh unit sold" of $US1526, it's hardly surprising that the company did better in the over $US1000 segment, especially as its only model priced below that threshold is the Mac mini - hardly a mainstream selection.

Would Apple sell more computers if it sold them more cheaply? If it could sell the same products at lower prices, you'd be amazed if its market share didn't improve. But would it make more money by doing so?

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