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Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi argues that Apple's overall notebook market share in the US and worldwide is misleading. Instead of the 10-12% of laptop market share in the US, Sacconaghi points to the remarkable growth – indeed, dominance – of the high-end notebook sector, as Fortune reports. Here are the salient points in the report: • Apple’s global PC market share has increased in 10 of the last 11 quarters, • unit sales have grown 28% or better in each of the last four quarters • U.S. notebook sales have been particularly strong, accounting for 47% of Apple’s Mac unit growth and 52% of its revenue in Apple’s most recent quarterly report. There's also an extended blog write-up of this in the Baltimore Sun. The bottom line is that if one looks at the sales graph for > $1,300 notebooks, Apple has over 29% of the top quintile. Bernstein's analysis also shows what Apple's market share looks like in the US high-end consumer and education categories (which excludes the premium corporate market). In this case, the number of Apple laptops is over 45%. Despite Apple's traditional high prices – for example, a PowerBook 5300ce in 1995 cost $6,500, and a G3 Kanga in 1997 cost around $5,000, with high-end Wallstreet G3s in 1998 costing around the same – Cupertino's dominance of the 'luxury notebook' segment is a relatively recent phenomenon. Apple's dominance in high-end notebooks has only arisen the last few years. In 2000, Apple held only 3% of the top quintile. And even though Apple doesn't dominate the sub-$1,300 segment, its MacBooks, at $1,099 is notionally expensive as an entry-level notebook, given significant Windows notebook price falls. Consequently, Apple may have to at least partially match the price drops of its Windows competitors. Analysis: But why should Apple do this, since MacBooks are selling strongly with healthy margins? Frankly, Apple isn't really after low or zero-margin, competing in commodities like Dell. Like most 'expensive' purchases – Benzes, BMWs and boats – people aspire to own them. Their worth lies in their 'perceived value'. And they do look and work better than their PC counterparts. In all seriousness, even the most one-eyed Windows users know this in their heart of hearts.
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