The Mac OS makes market share inroads in 1997.
via MacCentral
>Despite Apple's troubles, there are signs that the Mac OS is alive and thriving. Take the "USA
Snapshots" ("a look at statistics that shape your finances") in the Dec. 10 USA Today. It shows
that the third-quarter sales of Mac OS 8 increased (yes, increased) Apple's U.S. Market share for
operating systems sharply from the same period last year.
Third quarter share of systems sold, according to NPD SofTrends, were:
Windows 95 - 63%, down from 77% in 1996.
Mac OS - 33%, up from 5% in 1996.
DOS - 2%, down from 10% in 1996.
Windows (Microsoft systems before Windows 95, we assume) - 2%, the same as 1996.
OS/2 - under 1%, down from 2% in 1996.
And, yes, the totals don't quite equal 100% because of rounding. Mac OS Rumors mentioned these
figures and ran an explanation we'd like to share with our readers: "Often, when journalists talk
about 'market share,' they mistake 'sales share' with 'installed user base share,' making their
varying reports of Apple's situation confusing and misleading. While 'sales share' of new Mac
systems is currently just under 9% of the market, Apple still retains well over 20% of the Installed
User Base (IUB) of all personal computers. For once, however, statistics presented about Apple's
market share, specifically in how large a percentage of OS sales the Mac OS accounted for this
year, USA Today appears to have presented them in an accurate and fair manner (although still
with a couple of possible inaccuracies, including a lack of statistics for Windows NT)." < |
