In a report published this week titled the "The State of the Mac mini," Las Vegas-based Macminicolo, the largest Mac mini colocation firm, reaches the same conclusions. The company, which operates a server farm of 400 Mac minis, notes that "it's just about as familiar with the Mac mini as anyone" and claims it "is certain there is another mini on the way."
The report both attempts to dispel some common misconceptions about the mini's sales volume, as well as outline a few features that are said to be "100% confirmed" for the impending update. Specifically, it notes that the mini sells to businesses over consumers at roughly a 2 to 1 ratio.
"For instance, here in Las Vegas, I know there are at least 10,000 Mac minis running in the different hotels and casinos on the strip," said Brian Stucki, who owns and operates the Mac mini colocation service. "Many are used for video security points. Certain casino companies use Mac minis in each of the slot islands on a casino floor to manage the backend. I know of one nationwide salon franchise that uses two Mac minis for each one of their stores."
He tells AppleInsider that small businesses comprise the majority of his clientele, primarily due to cost savings. Not only does a mini fetch about one fourth the cost of an Xserve, but hosting fees for the smaller systems are similarly a quarter of that of the Apple rack-mount servers.
"When I read online of people stating 'poor mini sales,' I'm surprised," Stucki wrote in the this week's report. "The Mac mini is consistently in the top five of Amazon's Bestselling Desktop Computers. (It's currently number one.) If you watch Apple's Refurb site, anytime some Mac minis are posted they sell out in under an hour. Even the three year old G4 Mac minis on ebay go for a price close to the brand new Intel machines sticker price. The market speaks even if Apple doesn't."
