New Apple commercials

[baggss]

According to Gfx, Mac marketshare stands at circa 1.9%. We supply data at work to Gfx which they compile into sales trends, marketshare etc.

http://www.gfkms.com/

Vicky

A quick search through that link led me back to NPD, of which I am a member, do surveys all the time for them.

Is that 1.9% a worldwide number?

 

[schweb]

I think we find them hilarious because we know what the ads are talking about and "get" the joke. What I am worried about is that the average consumer is going to see these ads and go, "Huh?"

I completely agree with you. I think they're totally missing the mark as far as mass-marketing is concerned.

Don't get me wrong, they're clever, but I don't think the average joe looking for a computer is going to be affected by these.

 

[lil]

A quick search through that link led me back to NPD, of which I am a member, do surveys all the time for them.

Is that 1.9% a worldwide number?

Yep, so in some countries is may be higher but as a global figure, it stands at 1.9%. That may have increased by the end of the year to 2-2.1% maybe.

Vicky

 

[MJGUK]

market share is at around 2-3% worldwide.

Purely out of interest, is that a rough definition of the 1.9% Market Share you quoted in the latter stages of this post or is that a statistic from another source?

The reason I mention it is because....
The Thing about statistics is, they are exactly that.....Statistics.
I mean don't get me wrong, we couldn't live without them but different research offers different results. Just the same as different polls offer different poll results.....It all tends to vary and in some cases, quite greatly.

I mean to be honest I don't have knowledge of the sources which are quoted here, there and anywhere else (mostly), so I can't really say which one I believe the most either.
But it would be interesting to know a fairly definitive figure for before the Intel transition, straight after the announcement and now...

 

[lil]

Gfk is a very reputable impartial market research organisation—and will give a much more accurate picture of marketshare than any manufacturer will. That said—in some countries like the USA, Mac marketshare may well be 3%; and 2.5% in the UK; but for some countries it will be very low. This is bearing in mind that Apple's best micro computer marketshare stood at around 10% in the late 1980s.

Statistics are just that—I couldn't giove a monkeys how many people who use Macs, I justify my choice just by the fact I love them, and just because most people use PCs, doesn't make me feel I need to justify what I use—if that makes sense.

Any gains are goiung to marginal, to put this in perspective—roughly speaking to gain 4% worldwide marketshare with the Mac, Apple would have to double the amount of Macs sold this year relative to those in use. So to gain 10% again, Apple needs to sell 5 x as many Macs as they do now—an unlikely feat at this stage. Of course I am stating the obvious but then when you put it like this, you can really see what Apple is up against.

Better Mac marketing may help this is the bottom line.

Vicky

 

[MJGUK]

if that makes sense.

It makes perfect sense

I feel exactly the same, I'm just slightly interested in the movement of their market share.

But to explain to you quite how much I agree with what you just said......See here is my dream for the future of the Mac:

In terms of market share, popularity etc, it just stays EXACTLY where it is right now. That is the dream, that's it
The reason I say that is because personally I love the Mac platform for everything it currently has to offer, I wouldn't want it any other way.
Certainly, the last thing I want is for Apple to gain a massive market share as we know what that will bring.....

As long as Apple can keep afloat and keep making the computers I love using so much, then I'll be one very happy man

 

[smeshy123]

I think Apples market share should go up, it will be good for apple and it will be good for us because it will make it so apple comes out with more stuff (hopefully). As long as they don't start selling out and keeping the same great quality. I never want them to have a wide market share, but I think apple is worthy of much more then a meisly 2%.

Also, I showed my mother the commercials (your average computer user) and she thought they were really funny and worked to market Mac. So I wouldn't sell these commercials short, they could be more appealing than we may think.

Smeshy

 

[KJosh9]

I think Apples market share should go up, it will be good for apple and it will be good for us because it will make it so apple comes out with more stuff (hopefully). As long as they don't start selling out and keeping the same great quality.

Agreed!

 

[lil]

Well you have to consider, if Apple's Macintosh is not popular enough at the moment then its down to the way it works, and maybe just maybe most people prefer how Windows works, or at very least know how to use Windows and don't want the hassle of learning something new.

Therefore, if Apple was attract these users, would they need to make concessions on the Mac side of things, or rather sell out certain Mac traits to make it appeal to a wider audience? I'm not saying they would but that is the way it generally works, neither am I putting my arms up in dismay over how Macs and Mac OS X works as I love it to bits and to me it blows Windows out of the water.

This said and done however, still leaves the question of how much does Apple need to sell out, trade off and change the Mac to appeal to a wider audience. Put another way.

Lettuce. Yum. Well, kinda—you won't find many people eating this I hazard a guess on its own. No dressing, no mayo, no salt—nothing, just wholesome crunchy lettuce. Not many people are going to go for that, but many will swear by it.

Stick that lettuce in a bun, smother it in mayo and relish and whop in a grilled chicken breast and season with a little pepper and immediately, that lettuce has a much bigger audience because its tastier in combination with other things.

Congratulations, the lettuce is now being eaten by millions more, but that is kind of tarnished by the fact that the 1/4lb chicken burger is not nearly as healthy and can if eaten excessive become part of a poor diet. Lettuce on its own however can contribute to a good diet.

Question is, was selling out lettuce to a mass audience by proxy a good thing or bad thing in the long run for people's health?

Ok, it's a very extended metaphor, but I think it bears a lot of relevance in this situation.

Vicky
(who would have the chicken burger any day!:flower: )

 

[MJGUK]

Well as I have previously stated, personally at least I have no interest in seeing Apple grow into a mini-Microsoft. For me, it would spoil the experience
I also believe that Steve Jobs most probably feels the same. I don't know a great deal about him, but I know a fair bit and what I do know makes me fairly sure that he loves Apple for what it is. I'm pretty sure Jobs doesn't have any dreams of mass market dominance either. Not that it's really an option at this stage anyway.

But the problem is even if you wanted to take that approach, you would have to limit your original appeal to do so. So a lot of us would probably feel very alienated, Apple would no longer be 'Apple', it would be Dell Mark 2 or something.

In my humble opinion, I do not believe Steve Jobs or Apple are releasing this ad campaign with grand delusions of a huge market surge or massively increasing market share in mind. I think it is more a case of stabilising and steady growth. Maybe 5% market share would eventually be fantastic for Apple, maybe 10% would even be achievable one day. But I'm simply not sure Jobs has ambition past that point, for all the limitations it would put on their current business ethos.

 

[zeta101]

Lettuce doesn't need all that fancy stuff like mayo and buns, it's nice just the way it is! :headphone

It worries me that if apple start to get a much greater market share in a short period of time that they might be tempted to drop standards here and there to meet the demand. Apple already come out with lots of cool stuff and update OS X often. Having the low market share keeps them innovating I think...

 

[lil]

If the speech he gave at the shareholders meeting in 1984 is anything to go by, I'd say he likes the fact Apple is brash young upstart up against big dominant entities...

And yes as your customer base expands, generally speaking standards do slip, smaller operations are much swifter in getting products to market and better able to give a more personal service. Apple cannot do the latter, but it is closer in being able to do so than Microsoft is at present.

Where I work is a small electrical goods store that is well respected in the South East, and though we don't chuck out gear like the big warehouses like Currys, Comet etc. we do still shift a heck of a lot of stuff but have a reputation for excellent customer service (though we have had a spate of bad things lately—I know that because I'm the one sorting it all out!), and have a few big customers, Des Lynam recently bought some gear off us as he only lives down the road.

These smaller operations are swifter to move as I say and can give a personal service which people *love*. Apple's chance at 'emulating' this is through their Apple Stores and Centres, as Microsoft does not have this kind of outlet, not does Dell etc. They have tried and failed, and it is interesting to see Apple relatively succeed in high street/mall outlets.

Vicky

 

[techster82]

I have to think that Apple is continually trying to climb out of the grave they dug for themself back in 1984. They decided not to license their OS to other manufacturers, Windows did, and we see the result of that decision today. I can't realistically see Apple ever gaining a decisive part of the computer market. They may have gained 1-2% over the last few years, but this is balanced out by the overall growing number of people now buying computers. For every one person that "switches" it seems that five more buy a PC. I honestly don't know what it will take for Apple to acheive 25% or more of the market. I just don't think you can expect to be the only one producing the hardware and software and get these kind of numbers in this industry.

 

[makwanad]

I think everyone of those ads are great and really effective, the more I take in mac, the more I wanna buy another one even though I just bought a powerbook! I work for the John Lewis Partnership which means they can buy me a MacBook Pro and all I have to do is pay 30 pounds a month, I think I might do it!

 

[baggss]

The only problem that I have with that 1.9% number lil is the definition of the term "market-share". It's not based on the number of users you have, it's based, at least it used to be, on how many computers you sell in a given period. Funny thing is, Apples sales have been up while others have been down or flat. There are easily more than 1.9% of the worlds computer users using Macs, but that apparently doesn't matter.

 

[smeshy123]

The only problem that I have with that 1.9% number lil is the definition of the term "market-share". It's not based on the number of users you have, it's based, at least it used to be, on how many computers you sell in a given period. Funny thing is, Apples sales have been up while others have been down or flat. There are easily more than 1.9% of the worlds computer users using Macs, but that apparently doesn't matter.

Well, if you based the percentages on the number of people that use macs, it would be much more difficult to guage. What constitues a mac user? 100% mac? Mac at home? Mac at work? Using mac half the time?

The number of computers that a company sells seems like the most reasonable and fair way to guage the marketshare of apple, because thats what it all comes down to, how many computers a company can sell.

Smeshy

 

[MJGUK]

I somewhat agree with Baggss that it is a poor method of defining a user base.

Furthermore, surely a 'Mac User' is defined as:

'An individual who uses an Apple Mac Computing System'

And by that logic, it does not matter whether or not they use it at the office, home or supplemented by Windows. Fact is, they still use a Mac.
Seems simple enough to me anyway.

 

[lil]

In which case, there must be plenty of Mac users which are also Windows users at work or what not, therefore increasing the number of people using Windows.

The only way that marketshare can be realistically tracked (if not accurately if you will) is by the number that are sold.

My only point is this: I don't think the Mac seriously occupies 4% of the world's computers in active use—this figure has come out from somewhere of which I have never seen a source for, apart from 'someone said to me...' It may very well be true and I'll eat my hat if that is the case. 1.9% is the only figure that I have seen myself from a reliable and trusted source, one that is at least hopefully more impartial than Apple or a rumour website.

Vicky

 

[johnnyluu]

Well you have to consider, if Apple's Macintosh is not popular enough at the moment then its down to the way it works, and maybe just maybe most people prefer how Windows works, or at very least know how to use Windows and don't want the hassle of learning something new.

When you can pick up a Dell with a monitor for less than £300 and the cheapest mac you can get is about £500 sans monitor, it's not difficult to see why consumers choose a windows machine over an Apple. It really IS that simple.

On the subject of those ads. I don't care what anyone else believes, they are not a 'joke'. Apple are being quite serious, and that scares me. I am one of the biggest Mac advocates out there. I'm an animator and film maker, everything I produce is done on a mac. But I want no part of this current campaign, right now I'm embarrassed to be a mac owner.

 

[MJGUK]

In which case, there must be plenty of Mac users which are also Windows users at work or what not, therefore increasing the number of people using Windows.

Sure? That is true.

A Windows User is:

'An individual who uses a Microsoft Windows Computing System'