[turtle777]

Wow, I'm amazed. Apple got 14% unit sales marketshare in the US in February 2008.
Almost 1 out of 7 computers / laptops sold were Macs.

AppleInsider | Apple snags 14 percent of US-based PC retail sales in February

And looking at the Mac $ share, Apple's presence is even stronger. Apple accounts for 1/4 of all computer sales in the US

Way to go, Apple

-t

[sek929]

Wow, considering the other 6 would be various other companies makes Apple's sales even more impressive.

I must say, Apple notebooks are EVERYWHERE nowadays.

[osiris]

That's great news!

A far cry from the 2-3% days, when the demise of Apple was always a day away.

[sek929]

It's still only a day or two away.

[Wiskedjak]

Unfortunately, this doesn't take corporate sales into account.

[BadKosh]

What is the percentage of the INSTALLED BASE of personal computers/business desktops and laptops?

Does Apple really only have 2 percent, or is it really almost 10 percent?

[Eug]

There is no easy way to measure installed base, which is why nobody reports it.

One surrogate for example is to measure web browser market share, although you have to subdivide some browser like Firefox and IE 5. Firefox might have 15% of the market, I don't know off hand what proportion of that is on the Mac. And yes, some people still use IE 5 on Macs.

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak 

Unfortunately, this doesn't take corporate sales into account.

Market share is market share.

These numbers are good news. I wonder where Apple ranks in relation to other PC makers. There was a time where they were in the top 5.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Market share is market share.

If you're only concerned about retail vs. corporate market share, then sure. But, the majority of the personal computer market sits in corporate offices.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Market share is market share.

No it isn't. There's regional vs. global, unit sales vs. dollar value, retail vs. corporate, etc.

These numbers are good news.

Yes they are.

I wonder where Apple ranks in relation to other PC makers.

Same here.

[James L]

14% retail sales in the US is great, though the total Mac market share is much much lower than this still (especially when installed base, worldwide sales, and enterprise are taken into consideration).

When I check the stats on about 20 sites I have access to, the Mac OS makes up for 3-6% of all the people who have viewed those sites. This is anecdotal, but probably a pretty fair reflection of the true market share.

[mduell]

Retail sales are pretty much meaningless when the big players are doing a lot of direct sales. As of 4Q07 (1Q08 isn't over yet) Apple's still in the mid single digits (6%/4th place) for US unit sales and low single digits for worldwide unit sales.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by James L 

14% retail sales in the US is great, though the total Mac market share is much much lower than this still (especially when installed base, worldwide sales, and enterprise are taken into consideration).

When I check the stats on about 20 sites I have access to, the Mac OS makes up for 3-6% of all the people who have viewed those sites. This is anecdotal, but probably a pretty fair reflection of the true market share.

That's not market share.

[mduell]

Another thing is this may just show a shift in Mac purchases from internet/mail order to Apple and Best Buy retail stores. Apple's upgrade options rarely make sense, so it's convenient for someone to just pick up the base model at the store and avoid the shipping wait/hassle.

[Eriamjh]

All that matters is if Apple sells more each quarter than last year or the previous quarter.

Profit is profit.

[mrtew]

You don't have to keep increasing sales or share every year or quarter to keep making a profit, or even to keep increasing your profit.

Profit is profit.

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by mrtew 

You don't have to keep increasing sales or share every year or quarter to keep making a profit, or even to keep increasing your profit.

Profit is profit.

You don't, but it sure helps.