Mac computers are selling at 20% lower rates than in late 2008, according to new figures from analysts. If you’ve ever wanted to put a figure on what the credit crunch has done to the economy, there you have it: one in 5 people are opting out of Apple.
You may have seen those Microsoft adverts doing the rounds, showing how “real” people can only afford PCs, and as laughable as they are, it’s easy to forget just how off putting the pricetag can be, no matter how good a Mac is.
Case in point: an analyst at Piper Jaffray has found from surveys watching people shopping at Apple stores in the US that over late March and April, people were buying 22 iPhone 3Gs, 28 Mac models and 50 iPods a day through US oulets.
Impressive, yes, but that’s down from roughly 36 Mac models sold per day in the same check in November 2008. In other words, a Mac sales decline of 22%. iPhones have dropped from 28 per day then to 22 now, an almost identical drop of 22% again. You could brush that aside as an expected Christmas sales boost, but the same check in August last year found 38 Macs selling a day.
This evidence isn’t entirely rigorous of course. Let’s not forget Apple announced record Q1 profits this year off the back off the new MacBooks unveiled late last year. But at the very least, these Mac and iPhone figures do throw a light on how people in some areas at least are reacting to Apple’s branding in tight times.
Out TBC | £TBC | Apple (Via AppleInsider)
