Stephen Withers
Friday, 12 September 2008 05:35
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
"Apple continues to command the strongest repurchase intent of any PC brand. More than four in five (81 percent) of households with Apple as their primary home PC plan to buy the same brand - Apple - for their next home PC," said Dan Ness, principal analyst at MetaFacts.
That's not really surprising. Switching from a Mac to a Windows based PC is a bigger decision than replacing say a Dell with an HP. But in practice, the true brand loyalty may be even higher.
MetaFacts found that the more computers there are in a US household, the more likely one of them is a Mac.
"Like the camel slipping its nose under the tent, Apple is reaching into American households as the second or third home PC," said Ness. "Where Apple shines is as the third PC, ranking fifth with 8 percent of third home PCs, and ranking fourth in notebook PCs, also at 8 percent of the installed base."
So even if you consider a Mac to be your primary computer, planning to make your next PC purchase from another brand does not mean forsaking Apple completely. For example, you may be thinking of buying a netbook - a segment where Apple does not (currently) compete.
MetaFacts also noted that Apple's strength in notebooks is visible in public spaces. "If you look around at a Starbucks or cybercafé, you might think the whole world's gone to Apple," said Ness. "Apple users are very active and use their notebooks in more locations than Windows notebook users."
What proportion of Americans use their Macs in public? Find out on
page three.
