Apple is No. 2 choice among PC buyers
updated 12:30 pm EDT, Fri July 30, 2004
Apple No. 2 behind Dell
Apple was the for the first time, according to Investor's Business Daily. It was the choice of 8% of likely buyers, ahead of Sony, who at No. 3 with 6% of likely buyers, a new high for the company. Dell, however, led all companies by a wide margin, as it was the preferred brand of over 50% of PC buyers: "Apple is riding a huge wave of publicity and media attention surrounding strong sales of its iPod portable music players. That success might be rubbing off on its PC business, says Roger Kay, an analyst with International Data Corp. Consumers might be looking to extend their iPod experience to Apple's Macintosh computers."
The article also notes that Apple was No. 7 seller of PCs to the U.S. home market in 2003 with a 3.2% market share, just behind Sony who was at No. 6 with 3.5%. Dell and HP led that category, respectively, with 27% market share and 25.9% market share.
But Apple mustn't drop..
07/30, 12:52pm reply
Apple can't drop the ball on this. Not having a consumer machine is really going to hurt them, despite having excellent laptop computers.
Hopefully we'll see Apple starting to actually advertise their bread and butter: Mac OS X. Let's sell some Macs.
henryblackman
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2003
iPod's working?
07/30, 12:58pm reply
so maybe the initial iPod strategy is starting to work?
cmoney
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined: Sep 2000
Lets make some macs.
07/30, 01:04pm reply
With the trouble they're having supplying 3.7% of the computer market with machinery, there's no way in h**l they're going to be able to reliably supply 8% of the computer market with machinery. They need to ramp up manufacturing in a big way, right now. Of course, so does IBM and Hitachi.
chris v
Addicted to MacNN
Joined: Jan 2001
Where is the inventory?
07/30, 01:05pm reply
They can't even ship two of their flagship products because they don't have enough inventory. While I'm glad to see this news, I won't be buying any Apple stock until they start ramping up production to meet demand.
macimmortal
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Joined: Aug 2001
Good News?
07/30, 01:13pm reply
After 19 years of using Macs exclusively, Apple's focus on music gizmos instead of computers for work drives me to the point that Apple may become a No. 2 brand for my computer needs as well.
gradesig
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Joined: Jul 2004
Apple's Secret plan
07/30, 01:53pm reply
intentional or not the iPod has been Apple's secret weapon. Jobs said it. People see how great an iPod is then they want to explore more from Apple.
typoon
Addicted to MacNN
Joined: Oct 1999
Secret plan?!?
07/30, 02:24pm reply
For me, the opposite is true. I bought a powerbook 12 inch a few months ago, and I was so satisfied with the design, quality, stability of the laptop and operating system. This led me to buy an iPod, even when a few months earlier i was laughing at the ipod's battery life. Im glad I did. While the battery life could have been better, I find it useable, and for that amount of music, I dont see how anyone can improve the user interface. If only other people would just drop the stereotypes and biases they hold and give apple a try.
Lancer409
Professional Poster
Joined: May 2004
re: Good News?
07/30, 03:10pm reply
Why would Apple's focus on music drive you to use a PC? That makes NO sense. Do you mean that Apple having the best computer out there (G5) and the best MP3 player is not what you want from them? What more do you want? Oh I know, you want the G5 for $500 or to run at 4Mhz today or maybe both.
Now lets hear your explanation for that statement...
snapjack
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Joined: Jan 2002
4 MHz
07/30, 04:34pm reply
Snapjack, I think you mean 4Ghz. Typo, I hope . . .
ag4apple
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2003
re: Good News?
07/30, 05:19pm reply
>Now lets hear your explanation for that statement...
I don't care about Apple's financial success as a gadget manufacturer. I am deeply interested in their success as a computer/OS company.
Simple as that.
gradesig
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2004