Nearly half of retail desktop revenue goes to Apple [the end is nigh]
Another day, another measure of just how dominant the Macintosh is despite the fact that its overall market share hovers somewhere around 10 percent in the U.S. Whereas the other members of the Top 5 — Dell, HP, Acer and Toshiba — slug it out to maintain volume at just a few hundred dollars per unit, Apple is taking the lion’s share of revenue and profits.
BetaNews, quoting NPD market data and analysis, reports that Apple’s share of the desktop retail pie has risen tremendously from 33.44 percent in 2008 to 47.71 percent this. This means that 90 percent of the desktop computers sold account for just over half of the available revenue and likely an even smaller fraction of the profits.
Interestingly, NPD adds that even as Apple greatly increased its revenue share the Mac maker’s average selling price (ASP) declined substantially from $1,581 last October to $1,338 in this year’s tenth frame. Of course, the reason the mothership has been able to increase its revenue share even as its ASP was declining is its rising volume, a notion borne out by the company’s recent quarterly results.
However, as is often the case with rosy data concerning Apple, NPD’s Stephen Baker cautions that, “While those are great numbers, that’s probably not sustainable.”
You know, sooner or later one of these guys is going to be right. Seriously, how much good luck can one company have selling overpriced shiny toys to people with no fundamental knowledge of computers? Something has to give somewhere, or so we’ve been told time and again…
What’s your take?
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November 26th, 2009
I think this is proof that the wintel market place does’t work. The lowest possible price does not provide for a good computing experience. Computers are not a commodity; they are works of art. A checklist of features or components does not sum up to good value. It takes much thought and craftsmanship to produce products which feel good, look good and perform well.
There are a few quality PC’s being produced by Sony and Lenovo, but their price isn’t much different from Apple’s.
The company which stands for quality, ease of use, panache and a good user experience is Apple. It is refreshing when good values are reconfirmed by the market.
November 27th, 2009
The sleeping giant consumer market is awakening to Apple quality.
November 27th, 2009
I am a blind computer user and, I switched to the Mac because of the excellent screen reader built in to it called Voiceover. Naturally, since it’s an accessibility aid and most people don’t need it, it doesn’t get much coverage on the net. However, for those of us who do, it shows us that Apple isn’t just after the bottom line. Voiceover doesn’t earn Apple enough to justify the development cost, but, they do it anyway. This gives blind computer users a great advantage. The best part is that it’s updated with the OS, so, there is no need to configure anything in order to use. This access is now available on the Iphone as well. If there was some type of accessibility award, Apple should get it for sure!