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SI - Site Forums : Silicon Investor - Legacy Interface Discussion (2004-2011) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric L who wrote (1793)	9/29/2004 3:19:38 PM
From: Done, gone.	Respond to of 6035

Worldwide [Mac MARKET] share is ~1.7% As far as the topic at had is concerned: SI software development as it relates to the user base, market share is not as important as the installed/user base... ________________ Market Share vs. Install Base: Where the misinformation begins Installed base (a.k.a. user share) and market share are completely different numbers. Installed base is the total number of computers currently in use. As a software developer, installed base and user share provides the number of potential buyers, NOT MARKET SHARE. Yet editorial tech writers and news reporter use Market Share and User Share interchangeably. This is poor journalism and incredibly misleading. In the case of tech writers like Paul Thurrott and Rob Enderle, who clearly know the difference, that misuse of the numbers amounts to outright LYING. Apple has an installed base of roughly 30 million active users and growing. That’s a lot of potential customers, depending on the application, and amounts to anywhere from 6 to 12 percent of the total userbase. But doesn’t quarterly market share have an impact of the user base, at least on a percentile basis? Indeed it can. If Apple is growing the size of it’s installed/user base slower than the Windows PC installed base is growing, the Apple installed/user share of the market will be lower. However, total quarterly market share numbers don’t give a clear picture of user-base growth for a number of reasons. Apple computers get replaced much less often than Windows computers. Replacement systems DO NOT affect installed base so they can’t be included. These replacement systems, while not expanding installed base, do have a major impact on the market share numbers. This is a major factor contributing to the unreliability of market share as a tool for software developers. homepage.mac.com -------------- As I already said (twice), the user base of my sites is 17% Mac. Likely a few % points less than that for SI, is my guess, given my sites are image oriented (more Macs in the imaging segment) and SI is investment info oriented (more PCs in the investment segment).

To: Eric L who wrote (1793)	9/29/2004 3:39:53 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6035

I gotta go with Michal here, actually. The more important number (other than to Apple and its bottom line) is installed user base which appears to be maybe 6 times that number. Early on, the Mac had a clear and formidable advantage over the IBM PC clones because the interface was so much more intuitive and user friendly. HOWEVER, Stevereno and Co. decided to blow that by charging several times as much for a Mac as a PC clone cost, driving much of the market to PCs. It's perfectly fine with me if Apple makes a BIG comeback. Billy Gates needs all the competition he can get just to keep him halfway honest.