Why Microsoft should be worried: University of Virginia Apple Mac share hits 26%
Friday, March 21, 2008 - 08:57 AM EST
"University of Virginia students may display sabres on their sweatshirts and car bumpers, but more and more of them are sporting Apple logos on their laptops. For the fourth straight year, ownership of both Apple computers and iPods has risen sharply among U.Va. students, finds an annual technology inventory of entering students at U.Va," U.Va.Today reports.
"Apple's hot streak started in 2004, when Mac ownership first shot up on the annual report. By this fall, when this year's inventory was taken, ownership of Apple computers had increased almost eightfold in the past five years, with one in four entering students owning a Mac, up from one in five last year," U.Va.Today reports.
"Desktop computers have become almost extinct in recent years, as the popularity of laptops has grown steadily over the 11 years the inventory has been conducted. This year, 99 percent of students' computers were laptops, and less than 50 students out of the 3,117 who participated in the survey had desktop computers. Only four students reported not owning a computer," U.Va.Today reports.
"Apple's rising tide may be led by the iPod, some version of which is owned by three out of four first-years, up from two out of three last year. Just 10 percent of students carry an MP3 player made by any other manufacturer," U.Va.Today reports.
"Among the 5 percent of students who report owning a smartphone, just over a third are Apple iPhones (45), followed — in order of popularity — by devices from Blackberry (39), phones utilizing the Windows Mobile operating system (23), and Palm OS-based phones (18). Since the iPhone has only been available since June 29, 2007, just a few months before the survey was conducted, while the other types of smartphones have been sold for years, Apple has quickly jumped ahead in that segment," U.Va.Today reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If Microsoft isn't worried, they should be. So should Dell, HP, Lenovo, and the rest of the dime-a-dozen PC box assemblers along with the likes of RIM, Nokia, Palm, Motorola, etc.
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With all the Mac's in Charlottesville, home of UVA we still don't have an Apple Store.