Why MacBooks mean so much to Apple
Monday, October 13, 2008 - 02:00 PM EST "Steve Jobs likes to talk about Apple’s business model as a stool that rests on three legs: the Mac, the iPod and the iPhone. But the iPhone leg is still pretty short, thanks in part to deferred revenues. And while the iPod’s sales are still growing, its share of the company’s business has been shrinking lately," Philip Elmer-Dewitt blogs for Fortune."Which is why the announcement of new MacBooks scheduled for Tuesday at 1pm ET (10am PT) is so important. Apple’s notebook computers have been its main source of revenue for some time now, and if Apple plays its cards right, they are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future," Elmer-Dewitt reports.
"iPod represented the single largest share of Apple’s revenue stream as recently as 2006. But over the past two years, the its slice of the pie has shrunk from 42% to 29%, while the Mac’s slice (both desktops and notebooks) has grown from 40% to 47%," Elmer-Dewitt reports.
Of "total Macintosh sales... the notebook slice has grown from 55% to 61% over the past two years," Elmer-Dewitt reports. "All told, the MacBook share of Apple’s total revenue has grown from 22% (55% of 40%) in 2006 to nearly 29% in 2008."
Elmer-Dewitt reports, "Apple may have only 8.4% of the domestic computer market, but it sells nearly one of three high-end notebook machines. What would happen if, as widely rumored, Apple comes out Tuesday with a MacBook that sells for less than $900? Or, as some reports have it, less than $800? Only good things..."
Full article, with nice clear pie charts, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Martin" for the heads up.]

Apple pie charts maybe?