Analyst expects further Mac share gains

Apple's Mac market share rose during the company's March quarter despite a predicted slump following Microsoft's launch of Windows Vista, and Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster suspects the company will see further gains year-over-year. "Strong Mac sales in Apple's March quarter enabled the company to gain share despite stronger than normal PC sales," the analyst wrote. "With Apple heading into three quarters of significant product releases (iPhone, Leopard, new iPod) and the education buying season, we expect year-over-year market share gains to continue." Piper Jaffray maintains its 'Outperform' rating on Apple shares with a $140 price target.

Munster says Mac market share will likely continue to rise as a result of Apple's dominance in the portable category, the fact that iPod/iTunes users are increasingly switching to Macs, and because Apple is building strong Mac and Apple brands with "growing appeal."

"We believe that Mac market share in the portable category is higher than the Mac share of the desktop category," Munster said. "Thus we expect the industry trend toward laptops to amplify Mac market share gains."

The analyst points to Macs as offering "superior" media management, luring iPod and iTunes users to purchase the systems which further expands Apple's lead in music into two new product categories.

"These products will further expand [Apple's] footprint in a market with growing demand for simple solutions for digital content management," said Munster. "So far Dell and HP have failed to deliver PCs that rival the Mac's superior media experience."

The analyst says contributing factors to Apple's healthy brand include the successful "I'm a Mac" advertising campaign, the iPod's continued cool factor, and Apple's profitable retail strategy effectively promoting the Mac and Apple brands.

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