Slash LaneThe market research firm, which tracks retail sales, released preliminary data for the second month of the December quarter on Monday, showing Apple's sales were relatively flat year-over-year while sales of systems running the Windows operating system from rival Microsoft corp rose 7 percent.
Overall, sales of desktop systems fell 20 percent; Windows desktops were down 15 percent while sales of Mac desktops slipped an eye-popping 38 percent.
Apple faired better in the notebook department, where a refreshed line of portables helped boost sales 22 percent year-over year during the month of November. Windows notebook sales rose 15 percent.
"For notebooks, there is a little extra value to consumers (to buy Apple)," NPD analyst Stephen Barker told Reuters. "For desktops I'm not so sure. To me the real story is the iMacs need a refresh."
Indeed, AppleInsider this summer cited reliable sources as saying Apple's goal was to round out the 2008 calendar year with slight revisions to the iMac line. The new models were expected to appear around November in an effort to boost sales ahead of the holiday shopping season.
For reasons still unclear, the Mac maker pulled back on the release in early November, issuing a statement to the press saying that its holiday product line was set and no new Mac models would be introduced until the following year.
It's believed that the iMac refresh is now likely to appear at Macworld alongside the first major overhaul to the company's Mac mini line of tiny desktops.
Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
97 Comments
This sucks. Now we have to sit around and watch the stock tumble today, on this report
This, and follow up articles by others, will force Apple to make some announcements real soon. Maybe sneak something out before MacWorld.
Lets all get ready for an interesting next 3 weeks.
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The racoon iMac needs a makeover not a refresh. It looks too Dell-like - not Apple-worthy compared to previous models- IMHO.
Sorry but shouldn't these numbers be taken with a grain of salt considering this November only included two days of post-holiday sales (11/28 - 11/29) compared to last year's eight total (11/23 - 11/30)?
This seemingly bad news is remarkably similar to that in the game console market, where Sony's PS3, which has grown 60% year-over-year (that number sounds a bit better than it is because the PS3 didn't sell all that well in 2007, but growth is growth) saw a 19% plunge year-over-year likely due to the fewer shopping days. Meanwhile Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has been flat lining for a year now, saw 7.6% growth (nearly identical to the flat lining Windows PC market that jumped 7% year-over-year, as noted in the article). Nintendo's Wii saw 108% growth year-over-year, but while these are all consoles, that's sort of like comparing iPhone and iPod year-over-year growth - the Wii is a phenomenon.
Perhaps Mac desktop sales were also down 38% due to increased interest in laptops overall, which isn't really a negative when Mac laptop sales jumped 22%. Subtracting the former from the latter, that's a 16% decline in Mac desktop sales, which is again, nearly identical to what the PS3 saw (19% decline).
I know there's allot of people who like the glass displays but I'm sure Apple excluded plenty of people by not offering an option for those of us who can't use the reflective glass.
I'm holding out buying a new mac until I have an option.
So I'm a mini fan also, but I think people like towers. Also, a lot of retail chains in the US (BB) that carry Apple do not have any minis on display ever. When people see cheap PCs and don't care as much about PC v. Mac, they don't seem likely to pay the iMac premium. Don't get me wrong; it's not about the value of the iMac; it's about the absolute price. Additionally, the entire lineup in my opinion needs to be more aggressively refreshed. It's a rapidly changing industry, etc.