14 DAY TRIAL // Recent figures revealed by research firm Gartner say that Mac sales in Australia have increased some 52 percent in the second quarter. This is almost six times the rate of the overall PC industry, CourierMail reports, also adding that Australia's figures for Mac adoption have even topped US numbers.
In the US, the research firm informs, Mac sales have been growing steadily (at about three times the industry average), but not as fast as in Australia, where, in the second quarter of 2008, Apple's share of the computer market was 5.3 percent, up from 3.8 per cent a year ago. IDC, one of Apple's Aussie rivals, holds approximately 6.2 percent of the computer market-share in the respective territory.
From what the numbers more than clearly indicate, Australians are switching to Macs at a faster rate than almost everyone else on the globe. Naturally, there are certain factors to take into account - four of them, to be more precise. First off, the report mentions the iPod "halo effect" as the most influential switch-to-Mac factor in Australia. The research firm has come to the conclusion that "iPod buyers seek out other Apple products." Apple's move to Intel processors has also weighed heavily in the balance, since the initiative "has levelled [sic] the playing field and allowed switchers to run Windows," the same report reads.
Other reasons why Australians simply love the Mac are "increased visibility of Apple products in Apple's retail stores and chain stores" (looks like those glass facades really do their bit), and (you guessed it) "widespread dissatisfaction with Windows security, stability and usability." To put it in fewer and simpler terms - "Vista."
Lastly, Apple's "Get a Mac" ads have also taken their toll on Australia's PC market-share. The ads have seemingly convinced residents of the land down under of the Mac's supremacy over PC, as far as usability, security and reliability go. The iPhone (as well as its media-playing sibling, the iPod touch) is also said to have contributed to the widespread acclaim of the Mac, since the device runs a stripped-down version of the Mac OS.
On the downside, myths about Macs having no software have managed to preserve the idea that PC still rules. Apple's computing solutions are all but popular among certain groups who consider the hardware "a tad" too expensive.
