Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Internet, Leopard
Apple market share tops 10%, Windows share lowest since tracking began
Microsoft's share of the operating system market is dropping, while Apple computers and handhelds have topped 10 percent for the first time, according to a new report on Internet-connected computers.
NetApplications, the company that tracks browser and operating system market share for a variety of sites across the Internet, released its data for December 2008. According to a Computerworld analysis, the number of Windows users decreased in December by 0.94 percent to 88.7 percent.
The fall was the steepest in four years since Net Applications began collecting data, and was also more than twice that of any similar period in the previous three years. The Computerworld article does note that December statistics do slant slightly towards the Mac due to the reduced number of in-office days for corporate users, but the overall shift is decidedly Mac-ward even once that's accounted for.
Apple's share is just over 10 percent, if one combines the market share for both Macs and iPhones. Macs account for 9.63 percent of computers online. (Windows Mobile devices are included in the 88.7 percent figure.)
Also of note, almost three quarters of Macs online have an Intel processor. This time last year, less than half had one. Overall, Mac OS X's share grew by 31.7 percent compared to a year ago.
Windows XP remains the operating system with the largest installed base, with over 65 percent of the market.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
KA said 6:00PM on 1-02-2009
No Other?
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balls said 7:00PM on 1-02-2009
So Macs had to become PC's in order to win market share.
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KA said 10:09AM on 1-03-2009
Huh?
mr nimblewick said 7:02PM on 1-02-2009
I'm part of the falling Windows stat.
I just received a Macbook for Christmas. My first Apple computer since the IIe.
I supposed I'll be represented in the January figures though.
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alexign said 8:38AM on 1-04-2009
January figures are even better, giving mac an unprecedented 12.41% !!! Check it out at
http://www.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=132&qpmr=100&qpdt=1&qpct=3&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=120
alexign said 8:40AM on 1-04-2009
I meant giving APPLE not MAC
alex1jam said 7:25PM on 1-02-2009
Yes, i got a mac since 2006 and now my mom is going to have it im trying to move her from xp to mac osX 10.4. Its better for her since her computer already had a virus once. Currently im using Linux Ubuntu 8.4 which is good as mac osX and xp and its free.
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Kevlar said 4:34AM on 1-03-2009
Hear hear!
OSS FTW. It's not for everyone, but man, do I love it!
XiozTzu said 7:28PM on 1-02-2009
So in 2 years the iPhone has half as much share as Linux, which has been out for 15+ years. Wow!
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Apple Mac Stud said 8:02PM on 1-02-2009
LOL. Great observation. The same could be said about the Opera browser. It was out for years before Google's Chrome and their market share is about the same today!
DavidV said 9:32PM on 1-02-2009
They've really gotta learn to differentiate their colors. I thought for a minute that 9% of people were using FreeBSD.
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Brad said 9:55PM on 1-02-2009
so did I. I was like there is no way this is correct, these people are crazy...well they're not apparently
Luna Lovegood said 10:47PM on 1-02-2009
"The number of Windows users decreased in December by 0.94 percent to 88.7 percent."
So, the writing's on the wall is what you're saying? After all: "Windows share lowest since tracking began."
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James Loper said 11:35PM on 1-02-2009
dang, freebsd is bigger than i thought. :-P
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John Frum said 2:16PM on 1-03-2009
I've been using Macs since the 128K in 1984, and can definitely remember when Macs--without assistance from iPhones, iPods or anything else--consistently sustained a market share above 10%.
Check the stats provided here:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/total-share.ars/7
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/applehis/appl1992.htm
In terms of user experience, at that point System 7 was much farther ahead of Windows 3 than OS X is ahead of XP or Vista now. That superiority was reflected--only somewhat, as politics forever calls the shots--in market acceptance.
It’s important that reporters conduct appropriate research before writing, and not just write from (recent) memory.
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Jessica said 8:06AM on 1-03-2009
apple computers are overpriced, still have a tiny percent of the market share. Their adds are annoying, sure they are not as big of risk for hackers because they have such a tiny market share.
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Jacob said 10:52AM on 1-03-2009
You're right. Apple shouldn't even be recognized. A tenth of computers connected to the Internet is surely a "tiny" amount of the share. As a user of both operating systems I can say macs are by far superior. Of course you pay for that quality. Windows just became to stressful though
Tony said 2:46PM on 1-03-2009
Ah, yes...the old straw dogs rear their ugly head. Surprised it took so long.
So, "jessica", here's some homework:
* Go ahead and do some math to figure out what Apple's "tiny percent of the market" represents. Then, go ahead and compare their market share to other *individual* companies, like Sony, Toshiba, Acer, Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. You'll find Apple pretty high on that list.
* Next, use your favorite search engine to learn about viruses on pre-OS X Macs. Go ahead. I'll wait...Ok, good...you're back. See? See how there were literally hundreds of viruses for the Mac back when it had an exponentially *smaller* market share than it does now? Actual, in the wild, actually infecting computers, viruses. The "Macs don't have viruses because of market share" myth is totally shot out of the water with just the simplest of research. But then, I'm guessing you're a completely uninformed, ignorant and lazy troll.
(01) said 11:15AM on 1-03-2009
Would an Intel Mac running bootcamp/parallels/you get the idea be identified as a Mac or a PC by NetApplications? Just wondering.
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Damien K. said 12:17PM on 1-03-2009
If they were running windows in that virtual machine or boot camp setup then a PC.
I don't know why you'd use your virtual machine to surf though ;) No one needs IE that bad