Apple may have shipped 2.5 million Macs in spring thanks to Vista

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Guys, can we just take a break for one minute and ponder this massive flaw to this article:

The author only mentions Apple. He neglects to mention any other player in the industry.

Ok, so Apple is doing well... What about Dell? What about Gateway? What about HP? What about Lenovo? What about....etc.

IF those companies have shown net decreases in growth, while Apple shows major gains, then I might agree with the analyst.

HOWEVER, if those companies also show signs of added growth, then this entire article is complete bull****! If the entire industry grew, then how the hell could Vista be helping Apple?

This is mutually exclusive: either A.) Apple does well while the rest suffer, or B.) The industry as a whole has shown great growth, which would completely disprove this article.

Or else, we could just take it for what it is,

The researcher maintains that Apple should ship between 2.4 to 2.5 million Macs over the three-month period and that this would equate to about a 39 percent year-over-year surge in Mac shipments -- 3.2 times the predicted industry average of just 12.2 percent.

Apple doing better than they have in the past, and part of the reason it's being estimated is due to the cold response to Vista. Not a far fetched idea, seeing how badly the media has blasted Vista.

Not every damn thing has to be about "Company" vs "Company" or Rivals vs Rivals.

Sometimes good news for a company, is just good news. There doesn't always have to be a downer or negative to spin/argue.

[»X«]

Im making my first leap into the world of all things Apple 1st August. Getting myself 24" iMac and the girlfriend the black macbook.

I cant wait. Im sick and tired of vista and its got nothing to do with the argument "people who complain about Vista don't know how to use it". Because I can safely say ive been using computers for over 15 years and never once sat down to use a Mac. Yet I have no qualms about switching.

Tick tock, bye bye Vista.

[Mikee99]

Apple doing better than they have in the past, and part of the reason it's being estimated is due to the cold response to Vista. Not a far fetched idea, seeing how badly the media has blasted Vista.

Correct, however: (copied and pasted from another one of my posts)

"Apple has the smallest market share of all the major computer companies. Dell, for example, is significantly larger. It's MUCH easier for a smaller company to grow market share percentage, than for a larger company to. Due to the size of those companies (Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc.), and the current market saturation of their products, it's impossible from them to grow at the percentage of Apple's systems. Actually, Dell, for example, just by growing 1 or 2% means that they are selling way more systems (and growing their userbase more) than Apple is growing at 5%."

Not every damn thing has to be about "Company" vs "Company" or Rivals vs Rivals.

Sometimes good news for a company, is just good news. There doesn't always have to be a downer or negative to spin/argue.

I couldn't agree more. It's precisely why this article is BS.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Correct, however: (copied and pasted from another one of my posts)

"Apple has the smallest market share of all the major computer companies. Dell, for example, is significantly larger. It's MUCH easier for a smaller company to grow market share percentage, than for a larger company to. Due to the size of those companies (Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc.), and the current market saturation of their products, it's impossible from them to grow at the percentage of Apple's systems. Actually, Dell, for example, just by growing 1 or 2% means that they are selling way more systems (and growing their userbase more) than Apple is growing at 5%."

I couldn't agree more. It's precisely why this article is BS.

What?

You say you couldn't agree more, yet a few posts ago you were going on about how if competition increased market shares this topic is essentially "pointless"?

The only thing the article discussed was the notion that the mild response to Vista could have increased apple sales - The article does not rabbit on about competitions market shares.

It's good news for Apple and I really don't know why we have 13 pages of people going bananas over hardware comparisons/software comparisons and pricing. Just like when good news is posted in the GH at times, people do their best from opposing "factions" to rain on the parade in anyway they can.

I don't know why it's so hard for some people to say to the competition, "well done, you're doing something right when your sales/media/press is going well". Instead of looking for any excuse to bash.

However I guess some people are just cut-throat loyalists who can't sleep at night under the notion that the competition is doing something well :pinch:

[Bryan000]

I might buy a mac once apple decides to take gaming seriously.

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

If you want to use that as your excuse for the reason Macs are becoming popular then go ahead but the real reason is because most people want a computer that they don't have to maintain and can just get their work done on with little hassle. People are also realizing how unintuitive Windows can be which is the hallmark of a Mac. I'm sure their are a few shallow people who just got Macs because they think it's cool but for the majority of people it's much more then that.

This is pretty much why I went for a Mac, I wanted something that is smooth and easy to use; that is what I got.

I did try Vista, but I just didn't get on with it. Too many annoying things had to be messed about with and the networking stuff was just not intuitive to me at all. So yeah, Vista was partly behind the decision to move to Mac but mostly it was the merits of OS X itself.

Just out of curiosity, your avatar looks like a girl, are you a girl? If you are, you know a lot about computers :o

...

Lots of girls know about computers :p

[Mikee99]

What?

You say you couldn't agree more, yet a few posts ago you were going on about how if competition increased market shares this topic is essentially "pointless"?

The only thing the article discussed was the notion that the mild response to Vista could have increased apple sales - The article does not rabbit on about competitions market shares.

It's good news for Apple and I really don't know why we have 13 pages of people going bananas over hardware comparisons/software comparisons and pricing. Just like when good news is posted in the GH at times, people do their best from opposing "factions" to rain on the parade in anyway they can.

I don't know why it's so hard for some people to say to the competition, "well done, you're doing something right when your sales/media/press is going well". Instead of looking for any excuse to bash.

However I guess some people are just cut-throat loyalists who can't sleep at night under the notion that the competition is doing something well :pinch:

The author is really talking about the industry. The problem, is that the author is summarizing the entire industry with the success of one company. You simply cannot do that while neglecting the performance of the industry.

I think it's great that Apple is doing well. I, myself, do plan on getting a MacBook Pro in the future. The problem I have with these articles, is that they have a hidden agenda of bashing Vista instead of providing a cold, clear balanced view of the situation.

[TonyLock]

MS really shot themselves in the foot with Vista.

[Mikee99]

^Right, they shot themselves in the foot by making a product that generates them billions of dollars in profits.

[techbeck]

This is a debate...a discussion. No ones opinions are wrong. I dont like Macs. I find them tedious to use. A lot of people say Macs work without flaw but I myself and a few people I know have had nothing but problems. Just like Vista. Vista works great for me and Ive never had a problem...not everyone can say that.

Its good Macs are out there tho as they provide competition. If Apple ever made it so people could build their own from scratch, then it would be riddled with problems because untested/unproven hardware would be used..cheap hardware. This is another reason why vista is having problems. People buy it when their PC cannot handle it...or they have cheap parts (untested) that causes issues.

[DaTech]

I find that people that used a pc and moved to the mac.. it wasn't the pc's fault it's the users fault for not knowing how to work a computer

WINDOWS UAC is what mac users that use a pc need

I rarely have probs with my windows and when I do I can fix it! A mac I rarely have probs but that's cause your so limited to what you can do with a MAC!

ya ya I bet your mac can do everything! Lets hear the story again....!

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I plan to buy a MacBook for university before the end of this summer. My reason to buy one is simplicity and intuitiveness. I for one have no problems with Windows Vista. In fact, I use it everyday for regular computer use and work. I just want a computer that won't give me any issues with spyware, viruses, etc. With that said, I guess I'm in a unique situation; I love Vista and I love Mac OS X.

[DaTech]

I plan to buy a MacBook for university before the end of this summer. My reason to buy one is simplicity and intuitiveness. I for one have no problems with Windows Vista. In fact, I use it everyday for regular computer use and work. I just want a computer that won't give me any issues with spyware, viruses, etc. With that said, I guess I'm in a unique situation; I love Vista and I love Mac OS X.

I have seen all those problems on macs... I would probably sooner get them on a mac then a pc LOL

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

The author is really talking about the industry. The problem, is that the author is summarizing the entire industry with the success of one company. You simply cannot do that while neglecting the performance of the industry.

I think it's great that Apple is doing well. I, myself, do plan on getting a MacBook Pro in the future. The problem I have with these articles, is that they have a hidden agenda of bashing Vista instead of providing a cold, clear balanced view of the situation.

Auch now you're just going and looking for reasons to argue with this "hidden agenda" nonsense.

Vista whether we like it or not is getting it's fair share of bad press - The sales of Apple hardware/software may genuinely have increased because of that, but no, doesn't matter, there's "hidden agendas" on the go? :blink:

FYI I use and love Vista x64 as my main setup. I do get annoyed at the idiots on the forums who bash it (when it's the whiny 12 yr old "YUR OS SUX" nonsense), however what Apple/this website are saying in this statement is just respectfully true - The progress of Vista hasn't gone smoothly, and the media haven't taken well to it.

That may or may not have contributed to the % of Apple hardware sales.

[jesseinsf]

What seems to be the problem here? People sit and complain about Vista when Vista is doing just fine. You?re stupid if you bought a Mac just because you had problems with Vista on your old PC that was barely vista ready. Come on, it's all virtual....not real.....get a life. Vista /XP was designed for the people, Mac was designed for the individual in mind (That is how I see it). Vista is totally Multimedia, Gaming and gadget ready. If you like limiting your possibilities then get a Mac....It's kind of like social appearance. For example: someone who pierces their whole body to just be different would actually be limiting their possibilities to actually meet the person of their dreams.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

What seems to be the problem here? People sit and complain about Vista when Vista is doing just fine. You?re stupid if you bought a Mac just because you had problems with Vista on your old PC that was barely vista ready. Come on, it's all virtual....not real.....get a life. Vista /XP was designed for the people, Mac was designed for the individual in mind (That is how I see it). Vista is totally Multimedia, Gaming and gadget ready. If you like limiting your possibilities then get a Mac....It's kind of like social appearance. For example: someone who pierces their whole body to just be different would actually be limiting their possibilities to actually meet the person of their dreams.

*facepalm*

I love message boards.

[Quillz]

It is a VERY slow process actually.

When Snow Leopard comes out with Exchange support that works it will be the final nail in Office:Mac's coffin I think.

I disagree. From what I hear, sales of Office on the Mac are still doing very well. I for one don't like iWork, and much prefer Office 2008, especially to the piece of crap that is Numbers.

[Mikee99]

The sales of Apple hardware/software may genuinely have increased because of that, but no, doesn't matter, there's "hidden agendas" on the go? :blink:

The author is not doing a good job of proving his point, because he is completely neglecting the state of the industry.

He is assuming that:

Vista's negative publicity in the media + Apple's sales have increased = Vista is responsible for the large amount of new mac users.

You cannot assume that just because Apple is doing well. They could be doing well for a plethora of other reasons.

What if all the other companies have amassed large growth this quarter? If that's the case, then Vista can't be doing bad. If that's the case, Apple is riding upon the success of the industry as a whole.

If he can prove that the PC manufacturers have been hurting since the release of Vista, while Apple's market share has grown, then he has proven that the negativity surrounding Vista has been a major contributing factor to Apple. He has not done that, but people are assuming that he did.

[Quillz]

I plan to buy a MacBook for university before the end of this summer. My reason to buy one is simplicity and intuitiveness. I for one have no problems with Windows Vista. In fact, I use it everyday for regular computer use and work. I just want a computer that won't give me any issues with spyware, viruses, etc. With that said, I guess I'm in a unique situation; I love Vista and I love Mac OS X.

I'm the same, too. I think Leopard and Vista are both great operating systems. That fact is, most "bloggers" who bash Vista have never even used it and haven't a clue what they're talking about to begin with. Most of the problems Vista faced were compatibility issues at launch, something that also plagued Leopard, XP, 98 and most other operating systems. Unlike XP, which suffered from major security exploits months after release, Vista has yet to experience any truly major security flaws. That alone makes it a far better OS than XP will ever be.

[Boz]

2GB for a G5 Tower costs $133.98 + shipping/tax from Crucial... Video cards are a bit harder to come by, admittedly. The rest of the components should be simple PC parts, such as IDE Drives, SCSI Drives, SAS, PCI cards... Normal cheap parts.

I think you are understating the hardware issues here. Judging by your response one would assume that it's peaches and that you can get anything you want for a Mac. That's simply not true.

Mac certified ram for the new 2008 Mac Pro .. the FB-DIMMs are extremely expensive. I was looking for 8gb in 2gb flavors and Cruicial's pricing was $1050. Newegg has 4 times cheaper price for PC memory of same type. The two are not compatible.

Graphics cards simply don't work.. you are extremely limited with the choice. You can't use anything but what's approved by Apple and at best today we have 8800GT cards or the ATI 3870 I think. There is no SLI per se, there's really nothing.. anything you do also voids your warranty so you are pretty much stuck.

This is in general a major problem with Apple hardware and closed up platform..even though they have the appearance of using PC parts the only real PC part you can use is the hard drives and you are kind of limited there because there are some restrictions based on how you plug the drives and what connectors they have.

With this you actually end up paying more money for hardware then you should on a lower performing product as you really have no other choice.

I for example have 2 PC 8800GT cards in my mac pro 2008 and had to hack them and flash them with BIOS to make them work as Mac versions of the same card. The money I saved? $120 per card. You know, that's A LOT of money per card you would've had to pay for no reason whatsoever.

What makes Mac problematic for enthusiast makes it better for regular schmo.. the thing is, even today, Mac will never be a gaming machine. It will never be "upgradable" as PCs and will always cost more because of all the agreements, testing and other stuff that apple has to do themselves to make it work without problems for everyone.

[hagjohn]

Why is Snow Leopard going to be the next OS from Apple? It's coming out to fix issues with Leopard. It's basically going to be Leopard 2. Most of the improvements are going to be under the hood to improve speed and stability of Leopard. Sound familiar?

Both OS's are good. Both OS's have their issues. Apple is making some very good looking hardware, IMO, that is why they are gaining share. Not because Vista sucks, because it doesn't.

[AKladis]

Before the release of Vista, M$ released an enormous amount of information on equipment and gave criteria such as "Vista Ready" or "Certified for Vista" or "Vista Compatible". Practically any computer you 'now' buy with Vista comes with a minimum of 1gig of RAM, but even that is not enough. When Vista computers where first released I've seen countless units in retail stores that would not even boot because of the lack of RAM. In some instances a computer trying to run Vista with 256mb RAM.

Who to blame it on? I think it is a combination of two responsible parties - Micro$oft and the computer manufacturer. I blame Micro$oft for putting out a system that was not ready, and I blame the manufacturer's for not doing thorough enough testing before they released Vista computers for sale.

I work on computers for myself, family, and friends. My personal experience is the manufacturer's are so overwhelmed with Vista problems they cannot handle it and look for any reason whatsoever to deny a computer problem if it is related to a Vista machine. I have been personally told by several factory techs/reps that even doing a Vista update voids the software portion of a computer's warranty. I've gone through the Better Business Bureau, The Office of Consumer Affairs, and the FCC - all said they would not do anything other than accept complaints and ask the manufacturer to honor their warranty.

To sum all this up = Vista is the best thing that has happened for Apple and Linux!!

[darkmanx21]

Without a Doubt, next to consoles traditional PC's are the more popular gaming choice. :)

As for building a cheaper Mac, when comparing against the iMac people tend to forget to include the LCD Screen. ;) Regarding the need for a headless Mac to balance the price argument? AGREE!

Last line...hardly blindly, I think Apple users simply tend to understand the value of their machines. (Sidenote, look at the resale value on Apple equipment versus traditional PC. :))

See..once again.

Let's say a basic Apple is a $1,000. If you build out a PC including a LCD monitor you could build a PC much better than the Apple product. The resale value would be higher on the PC because it would have better parts. For a $1,000, you can do a lot these days...

[toadeater]

There is no such thing as an Intel G5.

If you are trying to say your AMD is faster than a Mac Pro (Xeon) system... Um, I doubt that. Xeon is used for Workstations and Servers for a reason, they outclass desktop processor performance.

That depends on which Xeon you're talking about. Most Xeons today are identical to Core 2 Duos/Quads. C2D E8400 = Xeon E3110. The difference is that you can use two quad core Xeons in a socket 771 server/workstation board like in the Mac Pro to get a total of eight cores. Those boards also use FB-DIMMs which have higher performance than DDR2/3 RAM.

[javagreen]

I think a lot of Mac sales has to do with the increase advertising they have been doing. For a while you never saw any Mac ads on TV and in the past year or so, there are a lot of them. Not to mention that every year more and more PCs/Macs are being sold. But Macs are never going to become as popular as PCs unless they take over the business side of things,

Vista isnt "bad". The major turn off for most people concerning Vista is the hardware requirements to run it. I have vista ultimate at home (64 bit) and it works great on my system. Everything I have installed works without problem. I also installed Vista on my laptop (wanted to force myself to learn it cuz I need to for my job) and that works just fine. I also have Vista on a test system at work and have no issues. Vista actually loads all my apps faster than on my Windows XP system.

Macs for personal use are ok for a normal user who doesnt know much and wants the Mac store to fix everything for them. You also dont have as much software options for the Mac as you do for the PC.

We use Macs at work (the new gen g5s) and they are a pita to get working on the network properly. Printing is a pita as well. Also, the hardware is EXPENSIVE. I bought an extra 2gb of RAM and it costs my work $500. You can get the same speced RAM for a PC for a little over $100. Video cards are more expensive and I dont even want to know how much more the other components are. Plus, one thing that irritates me about the Mac is the inability to eject the damn CDROM drive without having to use the eject key on the keyboard. But I wont rant to much about this since I could go on and on... :)...I do like how the G5s have their HD bays setup. No cables to mess with and the HD plug in directly to the mainboard via a daughterboard....now that is slick

Oh, on a side note I compared my Quad Core AMD system to a new quad core G5 and my AMD is faster :)

Offtopic, but are you thebeck on Basenotes?