Mac owners own more computers, even PCs

Jake Widman
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 06:13

Your IT - Entertainment

A study of U.S. computer ownership reveals more households own Macs this year than last. But at the same time, the vast majority of those also own Windows PCs.

The data comes from the "2009 Household Penetration Study" by market research company The NPD Group. The survey drew responses from more than 2,300 online panelists.

The results showed that 12% of households own Macs, up from 9% last year.

The surprising finding is that of those Mac-owning households, nearly 85% also own Windows PCs.

But Mac owners just tend to own more electronic devices in general. Nearly two-thirds of Mac households have three or more computers; the number for Windows households is 29%.

The same holds for notebooks, with 72% of Apple households owning notebooks while only 50% of Windows households do.

The pattern holds for other devices as well: 12% of computer-owning households in general have digital SLR cameras in the house, while 32% of Apple households do; 5% to 20% for flash-based camcorders; 8% to 18% for large LCD TVs; and 30% to 49% for GPS systems. (The disparity extends to iPods as well, but one would expect that.)

In sum, "the average Apple household owns 48 [consumer electronic] devices whereas the average computer household owns about 24," said NPD vice president Stephen Baker.

The disparity is at least partly explained by the finding that Apple households reported generally higher than average incomes.