Apple Sold 66% of Computers over $1000
NPD is reporting that although Apple only has 14% share of the overall computer market, when it comes to computers over $1000, Apple is king, selling 66% of the total computers sold. It certainly helps that the only computer you can get for less than ten Benjamins is the Mac Mini. But if you upgrade the Mini or buy a monitor, you are up over $1000 pretty fast.
Doing a little bit of fuzzy math, it seems that only around 12% of people even buy a computer that expensive. The price point could be Apple’s biggest competitor. When people are looking for a computer to surf the web, send email, and maybe do some word processing, spending $500 is probably a lot more enticing than double that amount. A Mac around the price of a 16GB iPhone might help Apple’s overall market share really grow.
These numbers are all for brick and mortar stores. It does not include online purchases.
[via eWeek]
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#1 Believ3r says:Why move downmarket and gain market share? What’s in it for them… the brand is already really strong, they’ve positioned themselves upmarket where they can make a killing.
#2 BJ Clark says:Mercedes sure could sell a lot more cars if they come out with a model under $20k.
#3 Honza says:But then the allure would be lost.
#4 Nathaniel says:Well, they wouldn’t have to fellate Microsoft every 5 years to keep Office around if they had a decent marketshare, and that’s got to be worth something.
I remember when the Mini Cooper came out and BMW almost went bankrupt and it ruined their premium market. Oh, wait, it was a hugely profitable vehicle everywhere on earth, it gained them an even greater reputation for excellent design and engineering than they already had, and provided an entrypoint to the brand and dealer/service fleet for young buyers who are now more likely to upgrade to luxury-class vehicles as their incomes grow.
Nobody is suggesting Apple build an Ford Fiesta. But they could sure build a hell of a Mini Cooper (and sort of have, in the Mac Mini, which has yet to destroy their reputation or profitability). It would be a good marketing move to return their base-model laptop to the $999 price it used to have, for example, even if it meant using a CPU that was .5gHz slower or keeping the lousy non-superdrive for one more generation.
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