Mainly Macintosh

Macs Gaining Market Share Among Businesses

Mac sales have really taken off for Apple computer. Recent survey results indicate that while this year was terrific, next year seems like could be better than ever.

E-Commerce News: Enterprise:

According to the Wall Street Journal, JupiterResearch surveyed technology decision makers at 258 medium and large businesses and projected that 33 percent would be running Macs next year, while only 21 percent were doing so now.

Last year Apple sold 4.7 million Macs, up 35 percent from 2004, and way ahead of the 16 percent growth for the industry as a whole during the same period.

Of course, 2007 is also the year that Vista might come out. Admittedly, 2006 was too - so there might be no Vista events impacting bottom lines.

If the Vista O.S. does come out, it will give Apple a chance to complete head-to-head with Microsoft's best effort at a mass-market O.S. to date.

That is exactly what Apple's Mac OS X is, so it could make for an interesting rumble in the marketplace. Both companies might take the time to point out not just major features but also some secondary details that would normally be glossed over in ads.

Product reviewers might actually relish writing product evaluation articles. Next year could afford the those writing such articles to do in-depth product reviews. With Mac OS 10.5 coming out next year, 2007 could be The SuperBowl of computer operating systems.

Companies are getting more attached to their data and less attached to individual programs. General purpose browsers are heavily used now, whereas a decade ago companies were just beginning to learn about them. A dozen years ago, only a couple existed.

The ability to search for data - and find it, quickly - and to interoperate with different programs are things that departments and workers expect nowadays.

A lot has changed on the playing field between Apple and its competitors since 2001, the last time they both suited up for a match.

Since then, Apple has released 4 new versions of its operating system for sale.

Next month they are going to quietly demonstrate Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) to Macintosh developers at Apple's WWDC.

With Apple's rising marketshare, stock price, sheer product power/beauty - and the deep/rapid fall in their computer prices - Apple in 2006 is not at all the same creature as Apple in 2001.

Plus, if you look at Apple's stock price for the past five years, they are not doing too badly in that department either.

posted by John Collins @ 1:41 PM