Apple's Growing Army of Converts]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Apple's Growing Army of Converts
Date:   Sun, 20 Nov 2005 00:34:50 -0500
From:   Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
To:     undisclosed-recipient:;



NOVEMBER 10, 2005

Byte of the Apple
By Arik Hesseldahl

Apple's Growing Army of Converts

Windows users are trying Macs in increasing numbers -- and it's not 
just a function of the iPod "halo effect

Nothing fires up a group of Mac users like the chance to score a 
convert -- except maybe the chance to offer an opinion on what Mac 
someone should buy.

I was reminded of this last week when a BusinessWeek colleague, Rob 
Hof, posted a comment on our Tech Beat blog saying he had decided to 
switch from using a notebook sporting Microsoft's (MSFT ) Windows to 
one of Apple's portables (see BW Online, 11/02/05, "Speaking of 
Apple...Some Advice?"). Hof asked readers to advise whether he should 
get an iBook or PowerBook. (I linked to his inquiry from our new 
Apple-centric blog, which is a companion to this column.)

MORE DEFECTORS?  Comments poured in by the score -- many laced with 
anti-Microsoft invective, a few touting the virtues of the Linux 
operating system over Apple's (AAPL ) Mac OS, most analyzing the 
finer points of buying an iBook vs. a PowerBook. All of them were 
enthusiastic at the prospect of helping only one single person switch 
computing platforms.

But there's a bigger trend at play here. And Charles Wolf, a 
financial analyst at Needham & Co. in New York, discussed it in his 
latest research note on Apple. While downgrading the stock from to 
"hold" from "buy," based on the shares' recent price spike, Wolf 
noticed something else: a measurable surge in purchases of Macs by 
people who had previously been Windows users.

Wolf has created an interesting forecast model in which he assumes 
that 11% of Windows users who buy iPods also purchase Macs at the 
same time or soon afterward. The model also assumes that of these new 
Mac buyers most stick to the Mac platform and buy a second one when 
it comes time to upgrade. The conversions resulted in about a half 
million Macs purchased by Windows users in fiscal 2005. In all, Apple 
sold 4.5 million Macs in the period, vs. 3.3 million in 2004.

...

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051110_197491.htm




-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/