Apple holds two-thirds of the retail market for computers costing $1,000 or more, NPD figures claim.
The research reveals Apple dominates the market for premium computers in the US, though it only holds 14 per cent of the market for computers costing less than $1,000, eWeek reports.
NPD vice president Stephen Baker reports that Apple’s notebook marketshare is growing at twice the market rate, with Windows notebooks “pretty flat right now”.
Mac desktop sales are up 45 per cent - meanwhile the overall market for desktop sales is down 20 per cent, while the market for Windows desktops contracted 25 per cent.
The report indicates user experience is key to sales, with computer buyers more concerned about the quality of the experience than they are the operating system that runs the machine.
"iMacs are growing and the Windows desktop ain't. No matter how you look at it, Apple is outperforming Windows,” Baker said.
The research relates to sales at high street retail stores - and Apple’s network of these is lending the company significant advantage, Baker remarks: "Apple has got better distribution than it's had in the last 15 years," Stephen explained. "They're in the right spot right now. There's the iPod advantage. But the big thing is the stores."
Apple to achieve 10m iPhone sales in ‘08 - analyst
