Apple Becomes Sixth Largest Worldwide PC Vendor

[Rob Williams]

From our front-page news:

In case you haven't noticed, Apple has been enjoying some incredible growth over the past few years. Whether it's due to OS X's simplicity or Windows Vista's major issues, I'm unsure, but Apple has become more than just a serious contender in the PC market, and it's good to see. It took them quite a while to really cause a major shift in the computer industry, but now it's rare to see a developer of some sort without a MacBook.

Their success has landed them as the sixth largest PC manufacturer worldwide, though Ars Technica doesn't share direct numbers to give some insight. As it stands, it's impossible to even guess a number. Sixth in the world is a big deal, but other manufacturers, like HP, Dell and Acer would each share a huge portion of that 100%, which wouldn't leave much for the fourth place and higher.

But that's not what's important... even 1% of the world market would be incredible, and surely Apple has that now. The growth shows no sign of slowdown, either, but given the recent advent of netbooks and mini-notebooks, their increase might begin to slow down. That is, of course, unless the Cupertino company decides to release one of their own...

"While this is good news for Apple and its shareholders, Gartner echoes other assessments that Apple may have a tough road ahead considering that PC manufacturers have brought the budget battle to ultra-portable, ultra-cheap notebooks. Asus' Eee PC and its many competitors are ushering in a new era of $400 notebooks and cheap desktops which, as we noted back April, are very appealing to areas like Asia and South America where markets aren't as saturated.

Source: Ars Technica
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[Kougar]

I wonder how big they'll have to get before Microsoft gets serious about their competitor?

It's amazing the limitations mac users have... expensive systems, can only install OS X on other Apple (or hacked) systems, and just about zero game support. And yet in a time where low-end notebooks and low-end desktops are the only thing fueling PC growth, these overpriced Apple systems are still seizing market share.

 

[Rob Williams]

If Apple were to turn around now and open OS X more, so as to say, any piece of your hardware would likely work with it, then I think Microsoft would tremble. I'm not a fan of the OS myself (I've never given it more than five minutes attention, though), but I seem to be in the minority. The thing that holds back Apple to me is the fact that they are overpriced and I'll wind up with a system not really attuned to my liking. Again, that's because I'm more of a power user... most people wouldn't care (everyone on these forums would probably care, hah).

We'll see how things go. Apple could grow even faster if their OS was a little more open, but that might also be one of the reasons they're so successful now. I think the general mentality is that when you purchase an Apple, you are buying into a lifestyle. If everyone and their moms started purchasing Apples, the appeal might vanish.