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running

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 11, 2006
58
0
Yesterday, I watched old 1997 keynote (yes, the keynote, where Steve introduced the Great Bill) on youtube, and Steve said there, that apple marketshare is "only 7%".

(actually, I was heavy Win95 user in 1997)

But some moths ago, I read on some tech site, that Apple marketshare is now 3%.

So, despite all iTunes, iLifes, Final Cuts, OS Xs, we have smaller marketshare than before 10 years? Is that true?

And is there any reliable site, where I can find out, how big real mac marketshare is?
 

Queso

Suspended
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
In 1997 it was 7%. It briefly peaked at 8% in 1998 with the original iMac before taking a dive thanks to Apple being stuck on the G4 processor for what seemed like forever. At one point it fell to under 3%, and has gradually been increasing back from there due to the G5 then later the Intel transition. It currently stands at 6.1% although that figure is now three months old and all analysts are expecting it to increase once the Christmas sales are announced.

All of these figures, including the one Steve quoted in 1997, are for US marketshare. Apple's global market share is more like 3.5%, although even that is increasing, especially in Europe.
 

FrankBlack

macrumors 6502
Dec 28, 2005
365
0
Looking for Lucy Butler
And is there any reliable site, where I can find out, how big real mac marketshare is?

I don't believe there is. I think market share numbers are carefully "massaged", and probably manipulated, to suit the needs of the entities who publish them. This applies to a lot of consumer things, besides computers. It's a little frustrating, when you consider how seriously some people take these numbers. If you follow the various postings at the stock market sites, some of the Wall Street analysts do have it as being now higher than 5 %, while others insist that Apple's market share is at less than 3% and continuing to shrink. All of these analysts have a mantra: "We're standing by our numbers".

Personally, I do not believe that Apple's market share as low as they claim, and I don't believe that Microsoft's share is as high. That's just my own take on it though. You'll need to work up your own opinion. A weekend trip to the Apple Store at the Burlington, MA mall tells me that Apple is indeed selling an lot of computers.

No one can even guess on the market share for Linux. Some insist that it's too low to be calculated. Don't know about that one. I see plenty of smart young people, in their 20's , who use linux as their system of choice. For some odd reason, the wall street crowd seems to be missing this group.
 

clevin

macrumors G3
Aug 6, 2006
9,095
1
I would think its around 5%.

safari's marketshare is around 4.2% based on net applications' number, http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/01/02.6.shtml
I would put mac's market share a little bit higher than that number.

onestat.com is a European company, it puts safari's global marketshare at 1.61%, so mac's market share would be less than 4% globally.

you can see there is really little agreement between different survey companies.
 

clevin

macrumors G3
Aug 6, 2006
9,095
1
Personally, I do not believe that Apple's market share as low as they claim, and I don't believe that Microsoft's share is as high. That's just my own take on it though. You'll need to work up your own opinion. A weekend trip to the Apple Store at the Burlington, MA mall tells me that Apple is indeed selling an lot of computers.

lol, i don't see how an individual can have a more accurate take on mac's market share based on apple sellers comments, :p
 
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