Survey Shows Explosive Apple Mac Sales and High Leopard Ratings

By Paul Carton

Nobody ever said Apple Mac users were a patient lot. But the waiting is over for the Leopard operating system - and judging by ChangeWave's latest consumer survey, Mac buyers found it well worth the wait.

To gauge the initial reaction to Leopard and to take a fresh look at the ongoing slugfest between Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, we surveyed ChangeWave Alliance consumers the week of January 2-8. A total of 4,604 participated.

Here's what we found:

Apple Mac Sales Skyrocket
Past 90 Days: Consumer sales of Apple laptops (17%; up 3-pts) and desktops (16%; up 6-pts) took an astonishing leap over the holidays. The chart below shows just how dramatic a transformation in market share this represents for Apple.

Next 90 Days: Looking at the next 90 days, a third of planned PC buyers (33%; up 4-pts) say they'll purchase an Apple laptop - a new all-time high for the electronics giant. At the same time, 29% say they'll buy an Apple desktop - matching their November all-time high.

Apple also maintains its big lead in customer satisfaction compared to other major PC manufacturers. Nearly four-in-five Apple buyers (79%) over the past 90 days say they are Very Satisfied with their purchase (another 18% say they are Somewhat Satisfied).

To put this in context, Apple's two biggest competitors - Dell and Hewlett-Packard - had 59% and 58% satisfaction ratings respectively.

It's clear that Apple is setting the standard in terms of customer satisfaction. But there's also a new twist as to why Apple is outperforming the rest of the industry - and why it's likely to do so for the foreseeable future.

It's Leopard.

With the new Leopard Operating System now on the market, for the first time we are able to compare its customer satisfaction rating against both Microsoft Vista and the Windows XP systems. The following chart presents a very clear picture:

Better than four-in-five Apple buyers (81%) say they are Very Satisfied with Leopard - an exceptionally high rating for a new operating system. This compares to 53% and 51% for Windows XP, and just 27% and 15% respectively for the Microsoft Vista systems.

Leopard's high customer satisfaction not only dwarfs its competitors, but it's having a direct impact on consumer intentions to purchase an Apple computer.

More than one-in-four respondents (26%) say the Leopard OS makes them more likely to buy an Apple computer in the future. That's 2-pts higher than in our November survey - another clear indication of how Leopard is helping drive Mac sales.

Ho-Hum Sales For Dell - But Future Still Looks Up

Past 90 Days: After an uptick for Dell in our previous survey in November, purchases of Dell laptops (22%; down 5-pts) look surprisingly disappointing over the past 90 days, although desktops sales (33%; down 1-pt) did hang in there.

Note that in the current survey we rated consumer satisfaction for specific Dell models, and found the Dell XPS line receiving the highest overall satisfaction rating.

Next 90 Days: On a brighter note, planned purchases of Dell laptops over the next 90 days (30%; up 2-pts) look set to improve and Dell desktops (36%; up 5-pts) are showing real strength going forward. This is the first survey since June of 2006 that Dell has shown an uptick in planned buying for both desktops and laptops.

Importantly, consumer PC sales only represent 15% of Dell's total business. Stay tuned. In mid-February we'll have our corporate PC purchasing results, which will provide the rest of the picture on whether Dell PC sales have truly begun turning around.

Hewlett-Packard - No New Surprises

Past 90 Days: This year's consumer holiday season contained little to get excited about for Hewlett-Packard in terms of PC sales, with 28% of respondents who bought a computer saying they purchased an H-P laptop (down 1-pt), and 26% a desktop (down 2-pts).

Next 90 Days: Planned purchasing of H-P computers over the next 90 days also looks similarly uneventful, with 21% of respondents saying they'll buy an H-P laptop (unchanged from previously) and 23% a desktop (down 1-pt).

Overall Spending Environment

Importantly, in the biggest warning sign of the survey, overall consumer PC buying looks weak over the next 90 days - with just 13% of respondents saying they'll buy a computer. That's 3-pts less than last January and the weakest reading we've had in more than a year.

This finding on PCs falls right in line with the overall slowdown in consumer purchasing we've tracked in our ChangeWave consumer spending surveys for the past six months. It's a trend we will continue to watch closely in the weeks ahead.

Jim Woods co-wrote this article.