Apple Platform Devices vs. Windows PCs

Fascinating analysis from Horace Dediu. The number of Windows PCs vs. Macs sold changed dramatically starting in 2004, three years before the iPhone, and a year before they announced the switch from PowerPC to Intel processors. I think the core factors behind this pivot point were:

  • Mac OS X was pretty good by 2004, and getting better annually.
  • Windows development had stagnated; XP came out in 2001, and Windows Vista didn’t ship until 2006.
  • More people started buying laptops instead of desktops, a trend that played to Apple’s advantages — the integration of hardware and software.
  • More and more of what most people did on a computer was done in a web browser, which made switching from Windows to Mac a lot easier.
  • Millions of people had their first Apple product experience with the iPod, and they liked it.

Even without iOS, the Mac’s fortunes changed dramatically starting in 2004. But when you do factor in iOS, that’s when things really changed.

★ Monday, 13 January 2014