College Mac Adoption Rises as PCs Fall for 4th Consecutive Year

With the Macintosh market-share on the rise, Daniel Ernst of Hudson Square Research is proud to inform that college PC purchases are down for the 4th year in a row. He claims "Apple's share of student spending [has] increased materially."

Fortune reports that the Hudson Square Research analyst dished out results from a small survey of college campuses - seven schools, 212 students.

The results were released Monday by Hudson Square Research's Daniel Ernst, who noted that, although spending habits among students did not turn up a clear pattern, "Apple's share of student spending increased materially."

Ernst’s list of key findings is provided as follows:

· Apple's share of computers purchased in the last three months rose to 38% from the 32% recorded in 2009, 29% in 2009, and 14% in 2007. Moreover, among all the computers owned by respondents in our survey, Apple's share rose to 51% from 33% in 2009.

· iPhones accounted for 42% of mobile handsets purchased in the last three months, up from 35% in 2009. Among all phones owned by our respondents, Apple held a 21% share.

· Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle each held a 48% share among those that brought an e- reader / tablet to school, Sony's e-reader held a 4% share.

· While few students recently bought a new MP3 player, 92% brought one to school, of which 95% were iPods. 74% of our respondents cited iTunes as his/her primary music source.

Apple has recently upgraded its entire range of desktop offerings, starting with the sleek Mac mini, and ending with the all-in-one iMac.

In the middle lies the Mac Pro, Apple’s powerful (but expensive) tower Mac.

All three systems have seen hardware upgrades, most notably on the graphics front, with both the Mac Pro and the iMac receiving top-notch ATI Radeon solutions.

As for the Mac mini, this entry-level desktop Mac distinguishes itself with a design to kill, but also fairly impressive specs, given the small form-factor.

These offerings can only ensure that Apple’s Macintosh brand will continue to become the obvious choice for more schools, businesses, and homes.