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Magic Mouse helps Apple double share of market in 8 weeks

Apple's new Magic Mouse helped Apple see a twofold increase in its share of domestic mice sales last month, AppleInsider has learned, garnering the Mac maker a double-digit slice of the market for the first time ever.

NPD Group sales data for the new device, which was unveiled alongside new iMacs this past October, shows Apple to have captured just over 10 percent of the market in November, representing a first for the Cupertino-based company.

"Sales in November were through the roof," Stephen Baker, analyst with the market research firm, told AppleInsider. "[The Magic Mouse] had the best month for a mouse product from Apple that we've ever seen."

The aforementioned sales data was compiled from standalone Magic Mouse sales only — those included with the new 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs were not factored into the mix. Similarly, however, the new iMac was the best-selling desktop in the U.S in October.

Still, the sales surge wasn't enough to propel Apple from its No. 3 position in mice sales overall, leaving it ahead of HP and Targus, but well behind market leaders Logitech and Microsoft.

"They're not exactly challenging Logitech or Microsoft at this point, who are far and away the leaders, but they've been No. 3 for a long time," Baker explained. Still, the analyst coined the Magic Mouse's debut a "tremendous performance," which saw Apple double its share of the market in less than 2 months.

Whether or not Apple can sustain its increased sales volume of mice sales over time remains to be seen. New Apple products are usually accompanied by publicity and buzz that pushes their sales through the roof in the early going, but often those sales die down over time.

"The Time Machine did great the first 8 ot 10 weeks too, but then it kind of settled down," Baker added. "That is a pattern we've seen with a lot of these products."

The Magic Mouse lacks any physical buttons or the scroll ball of its predecessor, the Mighty Mouse. Instead, the hardware senses the movement of fingertips across its surface in a multi-touch fashion much like the technology employed in Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook and MacBook Pro lines.

The $69 hardware communicates with a Mac via Bluetooth, and features capacitive touch sensors underneath its shell to track individual finger movements. The entire mouse's surface, from the Apple logo up, is also covered with touch sensors.

202 Comments

iqatedo 22 Years · 1821 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple's new Magic Mouse helped Apple see a twofold increase in its share of domestic mice sales last month...

Can Apple do no wrong?

adamw 19 Years · 112 comments

If a redesigned mouse can sell so well, just think what a revolutionary tablet or slate will do!

benroethig 21 Years · 2768 comments

Add middle click and the expose/dashboard functionality lost from the mighty mouse and it would do far better than double.

Quote:
Originally Posted by IQatEdo

Can Apple do no wrong?

They very much have their flaws. If Apple ever gets it all in order, watch out. The current success would seem like a bad day.

mactripper 16 Years · 1307 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by IQatEdo

Can Apple do no wrong?

Yes and it was called the "Mighty Mouse"

A abortion of a mouse like I have never seen before.My highly critical assessment and publicity/dissection photo's of that particular mouse may have drove Apple to create this new mouse.

Yes, I prod Apple with a pitchfork all the time.

steviet02 18 Years · 594 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by IQatEdo

Can Apple do no wrong?

Yes, actually all of their mice have sucked, including this one. Very cumbersome to use, imo of course.