Measured dollar helps Macs

Apple is making inroads in the portable laptop sector, so much so that even Microsoft-focused bloggers are noting that MacBooks are gaining ground on Windows laptops. eWeek Microsoft Watch blogger Joe Wilcox says that while 'Windows laptops are losing luster, Mac laptops are making surprising gains.' Mac laptops have moved to a 20-percent market share (for June/July brick-and-mortar sales), with a near 65-percent market share in measured dollars.

Wilcox calls the figures "hugely significant". He said, "For every three dollars spent on notebooks at U.S. retail, one went to a Mac." With laptops deemed the main PC growth category, Wilcox says, "Microsoft and its partners should dread Apple's shocking gains in such an important computing category."

Apple's higher prices are helping the revenue, as Mac laptops averaged $1,471 for July and August, while Windows laptops only managed $694 for the same period. That led to year-over-year growth of 30-percent for the Mac laptop sector, while Windows only inched ahead at 1.5 percent. Unit growth also saw much larger gains for Apple, coming in at 35-percent growth, while Windows (albeit with a larger base) only grew 10-percent.

Wilcox is predicting that Macs will have to lower prices and that netbooks (small, light and inexpensive laptops) will see higher growth, helping Windows regain some of its market share.

by MacNN Staff