Apple loses U.S. market share as sales slide 23%

Computerworld - Apple Inc.'s share of the U.S. computer market dropped nearly 16% in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the economy continued its freefall, an analyst said today.

According to Gartner Inc.'s preliminary estimates, Apple sold 1.25 million machines in the U.S. during the last three months of 2008, an 8% increase year to year over the same period in 2007, but down 23% from the quarter before. Apple's performance dumped it into fourth place, a fall of one spot, behind Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Acer Inc.

For the quarter, Apple accounted for 8% of all the machines sold in the U.S., a 16% decline from the 9.5% in the year's third quarter. However, its sales share was still up from 2007's final quarter's number of 6.7%.

The poorer showing is not a complete surprise, since Apple historically sees a drop in sales share in the fourth quarter because of its strong back-to-school sales in the third quarter. Even so, the company continued to beat the U.S. average, down a dismal 10.1%, and posted positive numbers, something Dell and HP, the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. sellers, respectively, couldn't manage.

Dell's estimated fourth-quarter sales, for example, dropped 16.4% compared to the same period the year before, while HP's fell 3.4%.

Acer was easily the big winner last quarter, said Gartner, as it pushed Apple out of the No. 3 spot to capture 15.2% of the U.S. market and year-to-year gains of 55%. Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa attributed Acer's success to sales of inexpensive mini-notebooks. Those laptops, often dubbed "netbooks," and characterized by their small size, light weight and low price, did well in the face of the economic downturn.

And that bodes ill for Apple, which doesn't have a system in a category that grew by 20% from the third to the fourth quarter. "Because Apple doesn't have a presence there, it might have been affected," Kitagawa said.

Another possible explanation for Apple's slowdown, said Kitagawa, is its pricing. "I just don't know if their price was being accepted by consumers," she said.

Apple's least expensive laptop is a $999 MacBook, the single leftover model from the discontinued line featuring plastic cases. Netbooks, meanwhile, typically sell for under $500, and often for considerably less. Amazon.com, for instance, sells Acer's popular Aspire One 8.9-in. netbook for under $350.

Gartner rival IDC, meanwhile, also slotted Apple into the No. 4 spot, with an estimated 1.24 million systems sold, or 7.2% of all sales. IDC's estimates had Apple posting a year-to-year growth rate of just 7.5% for the fourth quarter, better than the negative numbers of Dell and HP. Like Gartner, IDC said that Apple's gains looked lackluster compared to Acer's 35.8% increase.