One would think that in this sluggish economy, premium computer makers like Apple would languish, yet Jobs’ company posted its record best year. Not only did Apple gain market share in the under $1,000 PC price range, consumers who bought a computer over $1,000 overwhelmingly chose a Mac. With the iPad, in 2010, Apple is attempting to cut into the sub-$500 sector too.

Beta News Joe Wilcox asked NPD’s vice president for the following sales numbers:

- $500 and $1,000: Apple’s share doubled to 10% in 2009.
- $1,000 and above: Apple $90%
- Average selling prices of Macs: $1,361
- Average selling prices of PC laptops and desktops: $475

Industry experts focus not just on total market share, but perhaps more significantly, profit share. For 2009, Apple sold 5.6 million Macs in America. While Macs account for a small percentage of all computers sold (8%), Apple profits substantially more per unit sold than the top 3 manufacturers. So far, global Q1 figures in 2010 are through the roof: 3.36 Macs, $15.68 billion revenue and $3.38 billion net profit, which is a much higher return per dollar spent than any of the top 3 competitors.

With the launch of Windows 7, overall PC revenues bloomed during the fourth quarter, but so did Mac sales of 1.5 million in the US alone. Although plenty of premium Windows 7 computers were offered during the third quarter, it is clear that a majority of new computers sold today are netbooks and budget laptops/desktops; therefore, a brand like HP actually profits very little on each PC moved, despite the company’s majority worldwide share. HP has to sell several times more computers than Apple just to reap the same amount of profit. Do not be deceived by market share numbers. Even though Apple’s 8% seems tiny, how much money the company is really earning matters more.

The iPad allows Apple to enter a “computing” segment that it has up until now, had no contender. I cannot consider the iPad to be a “computer” - Apple itself does not label it as a “Mac” - but if forecasters are correct, then it should lure away some buyers from netbooks, which are technically computers.

Apple must be cautious though. While its Macs appear to be flourishing, the lucrative iPhone is expected to face grave competition from Android smartphones. There is also a bit of a cloud covering the iPod because smartphones and the iPad could lower its overall sales this year, depending on what Apple does to the design and prices.

Source: Beta News, Appleinsider, Apple