apple computers : marketing magic and top quality sells

apple has for decades been a great marketing success study, it was then and in recent years it is once again that. apple's story is that of fairy tale quality, except that of course it actually happened for real. it's how one man's marketing brilliance and unwavering passion and obsession for excellence in concept and design took the brand from nothing to greatness. then kicked out of the company he made into a giant corporation, only to be restored back into position and a second time takes the company to greatness behind of all things this tiny little gadget called the ipod.

the ipod's insane success worldwide, behind the same brilliance and obsession that built the mac is being credited for reviving the company. this tiny product's excellence bar none is now propelling it's big brother the mac computer to leadership, at least in the high priced segment.

the lesson here is that marketing magic and top quality product design can not only demand a high price (and therefore high margins), it can also gain dominant leadership. i am not a fan of it, but in the ipod and mac's case, i am awed by the power called "halo effect".




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Report: Apple’s market share of PCs over $1,000 hits 66%

Here’s a new way to slice Apple’s growing share of the computer market. Last March, the NPD Group reported that Apple’s retail market share — its cut of the computers sold in brick-and-mortar stores — had climbed to 14%, a figure that’s roughly double its overall share of the U.S. market and reflects the power of the Apple Store to draw customers and move product. What NPD didn’t report at the time was the huge growth in Apple’s share of the so-called “premium” computer market — machines that cost more than $1,000.

To some extent, Apple’s (AAPL) share of this market is growing by default. Companies like HP (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and Lenovo ship enormous quantities of PCs at price points between $500 and $750, whereas no Macintosh (with the exception of the Mini) sells for less than $1,000.
Still, Apple’s share of the $1,000-plus retail market was less than 18% in January 2006 according to NPD. By September 2007, it had grown to more than 57%. And in the first quarter of 2008 it hit a record 66%.

This nugget of retail data comes from Joe Willcox, who writes the Apple Watch column for eWeek (see here). He extracted it from an interview last Friday with Stephen Baker, NPD’s vice president of industry analysis.

“Apple has got better distribution than it’s had in the last 15 years,” Baker told Willcox. They’re in the right spot right now.” It doesn’t hurt Apple that once you’re in its store, you can’t buy any computer with a screen for less than a grand. “If you don’t give people a choice,” Baker said, “people will spend more.”

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/19/report-apples-market-share-of-pcs-over-1000-hits-66/?source=yahoo_quote