Apple Mac OS Market Share breaks through 8 percent mark - now stands at 8.23 percent

Oct
01

By: switchtoamac at: 11:48 PM on October 1, 2008 | Comments (2)

According to data collected and metrics tracked by market research firm Net Applications, Apple's Mac OS market share has risen to 8.23 during September 2008. The rise represents a year-over-year gain of 24.13 percent based on September 2007 when Mac OS market share was measured to be 6.63 percent.

Key Percent Increases

Up 24.13 percent since September 2007
Up 8.72 percent since January 2008
Up 25.08 percent since October 2007 (month during which Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was released)

The following is a view of Apple's Mac OS market share month by month for calender year 2008. The table tracks Mac OS market share for 2008 and 2007 and highlights the year-over-year (Y-O-Y) increase. In this scenario, year over year measures the percent change in Mac market share (based on Net Applications data) versus the same month in the 2007.

Year-Over-Year growth slowing
September 2008 marks the third straight monthly decline on a year-over-year basis. Although the Mac operating system continues an upward growth path, a slowdown in the growth can be inferred from the yearly comparisons for the prior three months. With a slowing U.S. economy heading into the tail end of the calendar year, there is a high probability that this trend will continue as consumers clamp down on spending.

About Market Share
You can learn about Net Applications here.

2 Reader Comments

Bob on: November 18, 2008 2:12 PM said:

Is a Y-O-Y percent increase in a percent market share a meaningful statistic?

Wouldn't showing points of share increase be more meaningful?

switchtoamac on: November 18, 2008 3:53 PM said:

Yes, a Y-O-Y (year over year) comparison is a valid indicator that provides insight into the trend. This is what many analysts and investors use for the comparison. Here's an example:

Sample 1 grows from 5 to 10. This represents a 100% increase.
Sample 2 grows from 100 to 150. Although the absolute number increase is larger than in sample 1 (50 versus 5) the actual change on a percent basis is only 50%.