“In the beginning, there was Apple. ‘At one point, the Mac was the hot box on campus, for those of us who have gray hair,’ said Kenneth C. Green, founding director of the Campus Computing Project, which studies the role of technology in higher education,” Elizabeth Redden reports for Inside Higher Ed.
“Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, announced last week that the company is emerging from its best back-to-school quarter ever for its higher education division, with shipments of Mac portables increasing 49 percent from last year within the sector, the increase driven, Oppenheimer said, by sale of the MacBook and Apple’s successful back-to-school promotions,” Redden reports.
Redden reports, “While Dell continues to grow and remains the overwhelming powerhouse on college campuses, Apple, which rapidly lost its market share on campuses in the 1990s, is now quickly expanding its presence at colleges and universities, according to experts who track both student purchasing and institutional trends. The rise of iTunes and the iPod, Apple’s marketing coup of positioning itself as an especially hip brand, and an overall increase in laptop purchases, a sector in which Apple proves particularly strong among college-aged buyers, all contribute to the trend, said Eric Weil, managing partner of Student Monitor, a national group that tracks college students’ consumer habits.”
“A spring 2006 Student Monitor survey of 1,200 full-time four-year undergraduates at 100 campuses found Apple squarely situated as the No. 2 preference among the 19 percent of college students — equivalent to 1.1 million people nationwide — planning to purchase a computer within the next year. Among those students planning to buy a desktop, 41 percent said they planned to buy Dell and 13 percent Apple, with other companies, including Gateway, HP and eMachines, close behind Apple, with 9, 7 and 6 percent of the pie respectively,” Redden reports.
“Among those buying notebooks — which 68 percent of students who said they would buy a computer within the next year planned to purchase — Dell is still the leader, with 40 percent planning to buy Dell laptops. But Apple, with a 21 percent share, has no close competitor for second-place: HP and Sony Vaio, the next-largest players in the market, have just 6 percent of the share each,” Redden reports.
Full article here.
Related articles:
Nearly half of computers purchased at Harvard this year were Apple Macs – October 27, 2006
Analyst: Apple Mac gains market share, the reason why is significant – October 26, 2006
IDC: Apple Mac attained 5.8% of U.S. market share in Q3 06 – October 18, 2006
Gartner: Apple Mac grabbed 6.1% of U.S. market share in Q3 06 – October 18, 2006
Apple Q4 earnings results: $546M net profit on $4.84B revenue, sold 1.61M Macs, 8.729M iPods – October 18, 2006
45-percent of computers purchased at Princeton this year were Apple Macs – October 12, 2006
Gartner: Apple Mac grabbed 4.6% U.S. market share in Q2 06 – July 19, 2006
IDC: Apple Mac attained 4.8% U.S. market share in Q2 06 – July 19, 2006
I’m seeing it on campus. And as more people get them, more people get them. Acceleration, baby!
On my campus, I am too cheap to even buy Dell.
Anonymous beige Window boxes are the only way to go!
I’m seeing more and more Macs among my fellow grad students.
outside in the real world it is happening too
it’s snowballing now, …then avalanche
just this last week I know of two switchers who even 12 months ago would never have contemplated going Mac
the more momentum it gains the more it will continue to gain
tipping point here we come!
Cultist is right, it is a snowball. The main reason people don’t buy Macs is that their friends don’t have Macs. But now that is changing.
4 or 5 weeks ago The New Yorker magazine had an article about what high school kids wanted for “back to school.” One of the kids said if one had a PC, that one would have to make excuses for it. “We are owned by Apple,” was one quote. This whole thing is building and is going to blow MS out of the water.
The trend is your friend. And the trend is certainly with Apple these days. There are a lot of people at Apple that have contibuted mightily to Apple’s resurgence, but you have to give it to Jobs for bringing them together and instilling the mission.
Yes, I believe the ANALysts and industry insiders will be stunned this holiday season.
There is an avalanche about to let loose.
“Among those buying notebooks — which 68 percent of students who said they would buy a computer within the next year planned to purchase — Dell is still the leader, with 40 percent planning to buy Dell laptops. But Apple, with a 21 percent share, has no close competitor for second-place
I would like to know if those specifying Dell, knew of the price differences between the MacBook, and Dell’s counterpart.
What would the survey results look like when those specifying Dell knew the MacBook cost less than the equivalent Dell?
In the consumer market, Dell remains popular with price-sensitive parents who want a small, ultra-cheap, but durable $600 notebook computer for younger kids. Aside from a more capable Mac mini for home theater, this may be the last hole in their product line that Apple needs to overcome. These people want something that is a genuine throwaway, if a kid accidentally trashes it. They want to be able to cheaply repair or replace it, and not feel bad so about the financial hit…
Brad Turner wrote:
“On my campus, I am too cheap to even buy Dell.
Anonymous beige Window boxes are the only way to go!”
What better way for you to remain anonymous on campus as well!
Goosh, can u imagine going with 40% idiots to school?
If you want to get rid of Dells, say at Emory University, do what the head of the IT dept. did a few years ago, refuse to take care of the Apple computers the university was previously committed to. If IT depts. refuse to take care of the Dells in the various schools, then Apple could make them offers they couldn’t refuse. Its the American way!
Oh, well. My son just bought a Dell. It came down to *specific* software titles and price, not features. He knows Macs are better; he knows the Dell doesn’t have built-in iSight, iWorks, etc. But his advisor at grad chool uses Scientific Word and S-Plus. He knows that TeXShop and R run on Macs. But the school gives him Sci-Word and S-Plus, and the Dell – as configured and with ‘find on the web $300 discount coupons’ – is about $500 cheaper.
Sigh.
It’s about time.
Since Microsoft has been adjudicated as being guilty of improperly monopolizing, why are IT departments allowed by universities and school systems to manipulate computer purchases by “not supporting” or supporting macs. The institution should be modeling responsible behavior by not promoting illegal or borderline conduct.
To; David Gaby
I’ve been a professor for 20 years at a univ of 15000 students, so the answer to your question is obvious to me. It’s because the administrators have zero understanding of computer technology and buy the smokescreen ideas put forth by IT like:
– it’s cheaper to only support one platform (translation: we’re not smart enough to learn two systems)
– I’m the expert, I know better than you what you need (translation: my hubris is bigger than yours)
It’s merely simple incompetence at both the IT and upper Admin levels in Academia. And don’t look for it to change anytime soon…
Magic Word: “built” as in, a foundation built on misinformation and prejudice.
BackSliding:
Get a copy of Windows, install it on the MacBook, and wala, you’re running the speciific Windows software your son needs.
As for price, I’m willing to get that between viruses and trojans, and the actual life of the computer, in the long run you won’t be saving with the Dell.
That is the wrong take. It is not Dell that is coming with anything. Dell is just a cheap componen assembler. It is the hardware. What you mean is that Sci-Word and S-Plus runs on Windows. Apple does windows too, and even better than a Dell. Those are no more reasons not to get a Mac. Just install Windows for those few applications that do not have a native OS X version and then use the Mac on OS X for ALL THE REST.
Dell, HP, Compaq, etc. They do offer nothing. They are just the hardware. Apple DOES OFFER something in that it covers both hw and sw. What runs only on Windows can be run on any computer booting in Windows and that includes all new Macs.
To “To BackSliding”,
I think she’s not arguing with you. But when you say, “Those are no more reasons not to get a Mac.” I think she mentioned 500 hundred reasons in her particular case.
To: C.Danvers
I agree. I have several friends in Grad School who tell me “I really wanted a MAC, but I was able to get a DELL laptop for $700.” Even though, technically, comparably equipped Macs are less expensive then some Dell, HP, and Sony products, the price of entry for a Mac Laptop is still nearly $1100. The price of entry for reasonably equipped Mac Desktop is still $700 (Basic Mac Mini plus display). Compare this to Dell and HP – $599 laptops and $300 desktops, and it becomes a no-brainer to poor college students and people on a budget in general.
Apple needs at least a $399 mini and a $699 laptop. This would greatly increase the the Mac’s market share and the company’s stock price… but I won’t hold my breath for it.