Apple's Mac lineup seen taking 4.5% of PC sales in 2011, 5.2% in 2015
Apple's line of Mac computers are seen making further market share gains in the coming years, growing to 4.5 percent of sales in 2011, and 5.2 percent of new PCs sold in 2015.
Apple's line of Mac computers are seen making further market share gains in the coming years, growing to 4.5 percent of sales in 2011, and 5.2 percent of new PCs sold in 2015.
While the bulk of attention in Apple's earnings was focused on iPhone sales, Apple also experienced dramatic growth in Macs, despite slow PC sales globally and a shrinking market for PCs in the US.
A report by Gartner agrees with IDC that PC shipments have contracted both globally and in the US, but the firm issued sales numbers that are significantly different than its market research rival.
Research firm Gartner sees Apple's iPad controlling the lion's share of the tablet market for the next three years, and remaining the top mobile platform in terms of sales through at least 2015.
Gartner recently issued a new prediction of the direction of the smartphone industry, but its last one from 2009 doesn't suggest the company has very accurate foresight.
Gartner's latest forecast for worldwide smartphone operating system market share predicts that Google Android will be present on nearly half of all handsets sold next year, while the iPhone and its iOS operating system will account for 19 percent of units sold.
Demand for tablet-style devices — particularly Apple's iPad — is expected to weaken demand for traditional PCs in 2011 and 2012, research firm Gartner has predicted.
Gartner has released its own estimates on US and global PC markets for Q4 and 2010, which paint a slightly better picture for Apple and a slightly worse outlook for other PC makers, compared to its market research rival IDC. Both continue to ignore the iPad.
Tablets and smartphones will significantly affect PC sales in the years to come, with touchscreen devices like Apple's iPad representing 10 percent of PC sales by 2014, according to a new forecast.
Reports from a variety of analysts predict a huge swell in tablet computer sales next year ranging from 35 to 100 million units in total, with Apple's iPad accounting for the largest number sold by far.
In their latest quarterly reports on the mobile industry, Gartner and IDC have reported numbers that are wildly different, with Garner counting 77 million additional units sold. Gartner also assumes the use of Android by a large number of unspecified "Other" phone manufacturers, greatly reducing the market share of Apple, RIM, and even the major Android makers.
Though Apple's iPhone sales were "stellar" in the third quarter of 2010, Apple could have exceeded the record 13.5 million units it sold if more supply were available, research firm Gartner said Wednesday.
Noting that chief executives are usually not directly involved in deploying electronics in their company, Gartner this week recommended that CEOs should treat Apple's iPad as an "exception," or risk being left behind.
AMD Chief Executive Dirk Meyer weighed in on the iPad's impact on sales of netbooks and notebooks, surmising that Apple's tablet has cannibalized both. Meanwhile, the company is waiting for the market to develop before committing R&D resources to developing tablet processors.
Apple's market share as a mobile PC vendor has surged along with the launch of iPad, breaking 200% year over year growth while vaulting the company from seventh to third place in global portable computing.
Quarterly estimated PC sales were released Wednesday afternoon, revealing that Apple was the fourth-largest computer maker in the U.S., shipping 1.6 million units during the second quarter of calendar 2010.
New data released Wednesday by research firm Gartner shows Apple as the No. 7 overall worldwide cell phone maker, with a total 2.7 percent market share.
Quarterly PC shipment estimates were released Wednesday, and Apple's share of the U.S. PC market grew 34 percent year over year to capture 8 percent of the total domestic market.
The buzz kickstarted by Apple with its long-awaited iPad is expected to produce a total of 10.5 million shipped tablet devices in 2010, representing a new and significant change for the PC market.
In less than two and a half years on the market, Apple's iPhone has managed nearly a fifth of the total global smartphone market, thanks to nearly 50 percent year-over-year growth in sales in the third quarter of 2009.
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