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View Full Version : Apple Market Share 8%, or is it 6.4%?


Jeff Campbell
04-15-2010, 06:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/14/apple_sells_estimated_1_4m_macs_in_us_to_capture_8_market_share.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article...rket_share.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Quarterly PC shipment estimates were released Wednesday, and Apple's share of the U.S. PC market grew 34 percent year over year to capture 8 percent of the total domestic market."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1271344640.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>So says Gartner, however IDC says the growth was actually 8.3% and only shipped 1.130 million versus Gartners estimate of 1.39 million units. IDC also differs on the Market Share, estimating Apple's market share at 6.4% versus the 8% that Gartner gave them. I would have thought they would base their estimates on similar calculations, aren't they querying the same vendors? I have to admit my ignorance for how these numbers are calculated, any thoughts?</p>

Dyvim
04-15-2010, 06:12 PM
I would have thought they would base their estimates on similar calculations, aren't they querying the same vendors? I have to admit my ignorance for how these numbers are calculated, any thoughts?
They probably just make this stuff up?

ptyork
04-15-2010, 07:45 PM
They probably just make this stuff up?

We don't use the phrase "Gartner Guesstimate" for nothing. ;)

It isn't all made up, but I was surprised how much opinion and "expert forecasting" plays into all of this. I got my degree with someone with Gartner's consulting group (separate group under the same umbrella) and even he didn't rely on Gartner's figures because he thought they were far too hocus-pocus.