Study: Mac sales, Leopard

The latest consumer spending survey from ChangeWave Research suggests "explosive" Mac sales driven in part by high customer satisfaction with the company's new Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system. "The results represent an astonishing leap for Apple among consumer PC purchasers over the holidays," said ChangeWave. The survey of 4,604 ChangeWave Alliance members, conducted January 2-8, revealed 17 percent of respondents bought an Apple laptop over the past 90 days for a 3 percent rise over the previous study in November of 2007.

What's more, 16 percent of respondents reported purchasing an Apple desktop system for a 6 percent rise over the prior study.

A third of planned PC buyers surveyed said they will purchase an Apple laptop within the next three months, while 29 percent said they will purchase an Apple desktop.

Apple also maintains its big lead in customer satisfaction when compared to other major PC manufacturers. Nearly four-in-five Apple buyers (79 percent) over the past 90 days said they are "very satisfied" with their purchase, while another 18 percent said they are "somewhat satisfied."

Apple's two biggest competitors -- Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- earned 59 percent and 58 percent satisfaction ratings respectively.

"It comes as no surprise that Apple sets the standard in terms of customer satisfaction," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing, "but there's a new twist on why they're outperforming the rest of the industry – it's the amazing customer satisfaction rating on Apple's new Leopard OS."

by MacNN Staff