Mac The Apple Of More PC Buyers' Eyes


By Patrick Seitz - Investor's Business Daily, 7/5/2006

Apple Computer (AAPL) could make some big gains in the education market during the back-to-school shopping season this year.

A new survey by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence shows a big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple's Macintosh computers, especially desktop models.


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Mac The Apple Of More PC Buyers' Eyes

The same survey shows PC giant Dell (DELL) losing ground among likely PC buyers. Meanwhile, rival Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is showing continued strength among consumers heading into the fall shopping season.

Among likely PC buyers in the next six months, Apple tied with Hewlett-Packard for the No. 2 brand overall. Both were the brand choice of 11% of prospective buyers in the early June poll by TechnoMetrica.

Using Intel Chips

Dell was No. 1 with 41%. But that's down from 48% in May and 55% in April. Apple's bet on Intel (INTC) processors for its Macintosh computers appears to be paying dividends, analysts say.

Among those saying it's likely they'll buy a new desktop PC in the next six months, Apple was the No. 2 preferred brand, with 16%. That's the highest number for Apple since TechnoMetrica began collecting purchase-intent data more than two years ago. In May, 6% of likely desktop PC buyers said they would choose Apple.

Apple's recent rise in popularity can be attributed in part to a "rub-off effect" from its market-leading iPod music players, says Constantine
Kambanis, an analyst at TechnoMetrica.

"The Apple brand -- thanks to the iPod -- has gotten far more exposure among average consumers, who are thus more likely to consider other Apple products," he said.

Survey respondents say positive word of mouth has helped sell Apple's Macs as well.

Margaret Chisholm of Lexington, Mass., says her 26-year-old daughter plans to buy a Macintosh on the recommendation of an older sister.

"Her sister said, 'Get one of these computers. They're great,' " Chisholm said. Her daughter already uses an iPod.

Wilson Meador of Dallas says his daughter recently got a MacBook for college this fall. His wife, an artist, uses a Macintosh at work and his daughter had a chance to try it out.

"My daughter had used my wife's Mac at her studio and it was just her preference," Meador said. His daughter also owns an iPod.

Apple has been heavily promoting its Intel-based computers lately, including its iMac desktop computers and MacBook laptops. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company started switching to Intel chips in January from PowerPC chips by IBM (IBM) and Freescale Semiconductor. (FSL)

Apple boasts that the new Intel-based Mac computers are much faster than its older PowerPC products.

College students who buy any Mac computer can get a free iPod Nano music player with a mail-in rebate as part of a back-to-school promotion that runs through Sept. 16.

The new iMac features the Intel Core Duo processor and delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor, Apple says. It features a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing out-of-the-box and Apple's Front Row media software and iLife digital lifestyle software, which help users organize all their music, video, photos and other content.

Macs Can Run Windows

In April, Apple introduced Boot Camp -- software that enables Intel-based Mac computers to run Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows XP operating system. Once installed, users can run either Windows XP or Apple's Mac OS X when they start their computers.

While Apple has seen its popularity rise, Dell has taken a steep slide among consumers in recent months.

Among likely buyers of desktop PCs in June, 39% said they preferred to get a Dell. That's down from 51% in May and 60% in April.

Among likely buyers of laptop computers, Dell fared only slightly better. Its computers were the choice of 42% of respondents in June, down from 48% in May and 54% in April. Still, in last month's poll Dell was the No. 1 choice in laptops, followed by HP with 14% and Apple with 7% of respondents.

Dell has been hurt by a lack of innovative and stylish products as well as complaints about its customer service, analysts say.

"Apple's brand equity has been improving slowly," Kambanis said. "This seems to be coming mainly at the expense of Dell."

Apple has gotten a lot of mileage out of advertising that claims its computers are less vulnerable to viruses and better for multimedia than Windows PCs, says Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates.

"Apple has poured a lot of money into direct comparison ads," Kay said. "Advertising works -- and particularly good advertising -- and that's part of it."

TechnoMetrica has been tracking the home computer market since April 2002. The research firm surveys more than 900 U.S. adults in random phone interviews each month.

Posted: Fri - July 7, 2006 at 10:15 AM          

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