By Jo Best, 30 November 2006 16:15
NEWS
In its latest batch of adverts, Apple painted the Mac as the young, cool face of desktop computing. But now research has found it's the silver surfers who have a yen for Cupertino's goods - while the kids are opting for cheap Windows machines.
According to a report from industry watchers MetaFacts, nearly half of Mac owners are 55 and older - that's almost double the share for average home-PC users.
For the digital youth, high-street box shifter Gateway is the brand of choice, taking the number-one slot among PC buyers aged between 18 and 25.
Dan Ness, principal at MetaFacts, said in a statement: "Apple can claim long-time loyalists but its future among the young technoliterati is an interesting dynamic."
Apple has in past ad campaigns hoped to trade on the cachet and cool of the iPod to persuade Windows users to switch to Macs, explicitly marketing the device as from the people behind the iPod.
The Mac maker is also reportedly investigating the true nature of the so-called iPod halo effect, where owning an iPod causes users to switch from PC to Mac. While the Mac's market share remains in single figures, Apple has said that it is seeing more first-time buyers picking up its kit.
Postcards from the bleeding edge
Read the latest missive from tech guru and silicon.com columnist, Peter Cochrane, as he blogs from around the world.
The halo effect is given credence by MetaFacts' research, which reports that more than two-thirds of Macs in current use were bought since 2004. By comparison, when looking at all computers in current use, only half were bought since 2004. The iPod was first introduced in 2001.
The report did find Apple users are ahead of the curve in mobility, with a far higher percentage of users who prefer laptops to desktops. More than half of Apple households have laptops, compared to the 30 per cent of computer users as a whole who use a notebook as their primary computer.
Comments
There are 14 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Of course Apple users prefer laptops, because until very recently the desktops were junk! Apple still does not sell a consumer desktop which will take PCIe video cards or separate monitors, which is a very large part of the overall PC market. For mobile computing the PowerPC had some distinct advantages over x86 CPUs until quite recently (and Apple, having seen this coming, decided to switch), so by default non-professional Apple users have been on laptops.
When will Apple put out a consumer computer that will take a PCIe x16 video card (or two) and costs less than $1000? _That_ is when the other 95% of the market may take notice.
2. anonymous
you said:
"... kids opting for cheap Windows machines."
Maybe. I would imagine more than a few bought an X86 based machine that will run Windows not because they can, but as a cheap platform on which to run Linux.
My son and both daughters did just that.
3. youwillneverknow
this is not surprising. before apple came out with the ipod and became 'hip', their customer base was mostly graphic designers and the education market. the author should have cited apple's marketshare progress in the younger aged groups over the past 5 years.
4. anonymous
Well, I'm a Granny & I own an iPod but I've never considered changing my PC for a Mac - I've always seen them as an expensive tool for graphic designers. However, when Windows XP is no longer supported, I will think about swiching to Linux.
5. Annon
Kids choose windows over macs? That's a strange statement, let's look at it shall we?
The cheapest laptop you can get from apple, the 15 inch macbook, $1100. The cheapest dell you can get, $700. $400 difference, wow that's like a year's worth of books for a college student. Or a big fat sack of herb for a college student.
Games.
Nearly every single game title that has come out has a windows version. But when you look at the Mac section of it there's a wee laughable list with about 4 games that have come out within the past two years. Many college/high school students play games. When was the last time you heard grandma fragging in quake? Now there's an idea for a youtube clip, the Fragging Grandma.
6. Happy Macer!
Well, I've been a user of both platforms for over 20 years... I have had my fill of fixing PC's and last year I finally packed up the Windows world and tossed it. It was the most liberating thing I've ever done. My Mac's work day in and day out! They're simple to use, dependable and enjoyable to work on. End of story! If you want to play games, buy an Xbox or something similar. If you want to get some real stuff done and enjoy the process, buy a Mac. I know, I've used both... It's like comparing Apples and Eggs!
7. anonymous
Began with Mac II in '88 and , after many others, have a new iMac Intel (age 74 me not the computer) grandson (age 9 has my eMac G4 as a result). Hope to keep the loyalty going.
Pete
8. Paul Wood
Games?? With some exception they are recreation for the less than mature mind. Macs are primarily for more serious work. There may be a market niche for Mac to create a gaming oriented toy ??
9. Juan Camarillo
I am one of the over 55 crowd and also part of the halo crowd. I bought an iPod in 2003 and switched over to an iMac this year.
So far I love both my iPod and iMac.
10. anonymous
Whatever - Apple Store system buyers typically seem to be adults - in their 30's - professionals with cash to buy the pricey white boxen.
I have noticed a lot of older parents buying Apple stuff for their teenage kids. Sure the buyers are older, but they are buying for their household offspring. The users wont show up on your study - because they are too young to get their own credit card yet!
11. Anthony Fouracre
I feel that Apple should make a cheap intel motherboard for hobbist to custom build their on machines & write software for third party popular Sound Cards & video cards that are used by most windozze users. I think this would also be the chance to get more younger people interested in using Mac's so you can even run windozze on it. This would also make Macs more affordable for them as well.
12. macuser
Regarding previous lament about no Macs that can be used with monitors... the Macmini and the Mac towers are in that category. The Mini and low end iMac and MacBooks are under $1000.
The video card situation is somewhat aggravating since some cards only need flashing to be used with Macs. That shouldn't even be necessary though there is something to be said about integrating hardware well enough to be sure it works; that is part of the Apple philosophy.
I'm in the granny age group and I'm using 9 year old and 6 year old upgraded Macs with OSX. Both are still running too well to give up. :-)
13. anonymous
I'm also a 70+ granny who loves her iPod. Also if and when the PC i own dies on me i may look into the Apple. I love their technology
14. Malcolm Wilson
In reply to Geek's "When will Apple put out a consumer computer that will take a PCIe x16 video card (or two) and costs less than $1000?"
When Apple decide to produce unreliable, thrown-together lash-ups that look mostly ugly and run an equally flaky OS, that's when.
I'm 56, a dedicated Mac user since 1985 and really enjoy being in the minority. I don't care if the rest reject the best...