With the iPad tablet’s entry into the computers market, Apple’s share in the PC market just spiraled upwards. Now with the new Mac OS X Lion priced at just $30 and the Thunderbolt equipped Macbook Air, Apple would only increase the rate at which Mac ecosystem is growing. And this does not spell good for the Windows PC market which has been losing marketshare to the Mac. With the iPad boost Apple has poised itself to take the No 1 spot as a PC manufacturer by year-end / early 2012.
Chris Whitmore, Analyst Deutsche Bank observes that the traditional PC market does not have any “meaningful new offerings” which opens up the market for Apple which not only has new hardware but also software in place to take advantage of the situation. Whitmore projects the PC market to grow by about 4 percent this year. Adding that while corporate demand is steady, consumer demand is on the slide, particularly in developed nations.
He further observed that PC supply chain indicates lowered demands in the US and UK consumer market, particularly for notebooks. He also adds that PC manufacturers are looking to make Intel based “Ultrabook” to counter pricing of Apple’s Macbook Air, but production wont ramp up until early next year due to supply issues.
With the Mac on a market gaining spree, Apple has been growing its system sales at a record pace already. And the impact magnifies when you add iPads to the equation, which Whitmore calls the “Gold Standard” in the tablet market. The iPad dominance is slated to get amplified with the launch of iOS 5 and iCloud services this fall, which adds new features to the iOS devices including the iPhone and the iPod touch. Jobs may call it the post-PC era, but keeping aside the debate of tablets being counted as computers, iOS is surely Apple’s lucky charm.
Source: AppleInsider
