According to a new report from research outfit The NPD Group, Apple has done more than carve out a niche for itself in the high-end retail computer market: it’s actually in a dominant position. NPD found that Apple accounted for 66 percent of all U.S. retail computer sales for systems costing $1,000 or more during the first three months of 2008. Among desktop computers, that figure is even higher—70 percent—although among notebooks it’s still a startling 64 percent.
NPD has also concluded that Apple accounted for 14 percent of the overall U.S. retail computer market, with Apple notebook computers showing 50 to 60 percent growth year-on-year, while Windows-based notebook computers stagnated during the same period, showing zero percent growth in sales.
NPD’s figures only consider sales at retail stores, such as Apple’s own retail stores and Best Buy, and do not factor in online sales. Under NPD’s metrics, virtually all of Apple’s computer offerings count as “high-end” computers, since nearly all carry price tags over $1,000. Apple currently operates over 200 retail stores, with additional stores planned.
NPD attributes Apple’s success at retail in part to Apple’s retail stores—where no competing computers are available—as well as the market’s tepid reception to Windows Vista and the success of Apple’s much-loved (and much-parodied) “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” advertisements featuring humorist John Hodgman in the role of a PC.
