Macs outperforms Windows in $1,000+ PCs
According to a sales analysis by the NPD Group, Apple's experiencing a meteoric rise in sales among the consumer notebook and PC market.... at least as far as computers costing more than $1000+ are concerned (read: the only computers Apple makes). Over the last year, Apple has grown its MacBook line two times the rest of the market, where as they are up 45%. Overall, in the first quarter of 2008, Apple sold 66% of $1,000+ PCs.
For the usual gang of zealots, this will be proof of Steve Jobs' godhead. For those who dislike Macs, they'll point out that most laptops and PCs cost under $1,000, so this is simply proof that Apples are outrageously expensive compared to the rest of the market. There's some truth to that: Apple's Q1 retail share among all computer makers was only 14%. Apple's numbers are also slightly tarnished by the fact that the analysis doesn't take into account business PC sales... which is huge money that Apple has basically not even remotely been able to touch yet.
So Windows computers still rule, but, it's hard to deny that Apple is on the rise, and there's very big reason for Microsoft to be concerned, especially as Apple stores continue to spread to all major cities (for example, Apple's most recent addition, their largest retail outlet ever located on Boston's Boylston Street)... prompting NPD to opine that Microsoft should set up its own retail stores to directly compete. I imagine a Balmer Bar stretched down to the food court, in which impatient gamers cradle their 360s in their arms like bloodshot, cycloptic children.
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Hey, the Mini is under $1k ($800 fully loaded) and they make a mockery of the Shuttle mini pc's and the like.
When you compare similarly-spec'd Macs to PCs, you end up paying around $300-400 for the privilege of running OS X.
That's not a good or a bad thing -- to people who are spending $1,500 on a computer, OS X may certainly be $400 better than Vista.
The problem is that on the low end, you just get a lot more machine (and performance) for your money. To get a MacBook with 2 GB memory and a decent hard drive, it's $1,200. A similarly-equipped Dell 14.1" Vostro is less than $800.
Move to the $1,200 price point with Dell, and you get an XPS 13.3" with 50% more memory, 2x the hard drive, and discrete graphics.
Is OS X worth $400 more than Vista? Perhaps... but it mainly shows that Apple's not in the business of selling value -- the Reality Distortion Field only works when you feel superior because you paid more.
#2: That's it on the nose in it's entirety. $400 is cheap for unlimited smugness.
The numbers are rather more than "slightly tarnished" by ignoring corporate PC sales, which make up 50-67% of PC sales volume.
Isn't it obvious? It's Vista. Vista is killing the Windows PC, it's killing Microsoft and it's killing companies like Dell.
I just found ANOTHER mission-critical application that doesn't work with Vista. The maker (local government, so there's no further discussion possible) says "don't buy any Vista PCs until further notice".
I won't.
Oh, and what was that about Apple not making any sub-1000 machines? Even if that was the case, it wouldn't prove that they're expensive. That would be like saying all SLRs are expensive because most digital cameras cost under 500.