[Nonsuch]

Some good news from Fred Anderson's conference call, reported by the Mac Observer:

[Wr]apping up the look at retail operations, Mr. Anderson said that Apple has seen significant gains in consumer market share. In Apple's own retail locations, Mr. Anderson iterated the figure he gave during the June quarter's conference call that 50% of Mac system buyers were new to the Mac platform. ... As a whole, he said that Apple's share of the consumer market had risen to 3.5% in the June quarter, up from 1.5% in the June quarter of 2001.

Apple also gained market share during the last quarter in the education space, an area where Apple has given up market share during the last several years. Mr. Anderson said that the company's share of the education market rose to 16% during the June quarter, up from 15% the prior quarter.

More importantly, from Apple's standpoint, the company claimed some 30% of the portable segment of the education market, up from 24% the prior year. Looking forward, Mr. Anderson says that projections say that desktop systems sales to education will be flat through 2007, with the portable market rising throughout the same period. According to the CFO, this gives the company an edge going forward, and is why Apple has focused more strongly in selling portables to schools. Specifically, Apple expects to see more efforts to get a portable to every student in many school districts, and he called Apple a "first mover" in such efforts.

[...]

In Apple's other markets, Mr. Anderson said that there were signs the creative markets, Apple['s] stronghold, had finally reached a bottom, and were beginning to rebound. Mr. Anderson cited surveys that said customers in those markets who were looking to buy new computers in the next year were 75%-90% likely to buy new Macs. If so, that would represent market share gains for Apple in that space.

Sure, these calls are always about positive spin, but it seems there's actually something to be positive about. Nice.

[mitchell_pgh]

I think the Apple stores are REALLY helping out. It shows consumers that:

A) Apple is not dead
B) Apple offers a compelling lineup of computers
C) There are software titles for the mac (and there is a location to pick them up)
D) It gives consumers peace of mind (there is always someone to talk to)
E) You are not alone after purchasing an "alternative" operating system.

Hopefully the G5 will continue to increase in speed over the next year POUNDING the PIV.

[typoon]

This is some good news. Wait wait. I thought Apple was Dying? I thought they were being bought out? I thought... Oh that's right some stupid unfounded rumors that have abounded for years and still won't DIE. I hope this good news will help to finally KILL some of that stuff.

[alien]

This is good for my 32 AAPL stock. I promised myself to go 64 when Apple did with their processors, so I'll need to whip up some money soon.

[olePigeon]

After the creative market bottomed out, I think it was because of the users waiting for a new Macintosh. The whole Motorola fiasco was pretty bad. Now that IBM is running the show and Apple is back in the forfront of the pack, creative professionals (especially Audio pros) will be jumping back in for a new G5.

I see EXCELLENT sales in the creative district for Apple.