80% of Incoming College Students Buying Macs
tuaw.com/2011/07/08/apples-back-to-school-pro...Posted Jul 8, 2011, 6:49 PM UTC
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tuaw.com
I'm just not seeing it. At my campus I'd say maybe 20-30% of people have apple laptops and most of those people are art/graphic design majors.
Everyone else uses a netbook or generic Dell or HP, this is just my anecdote so of course this doesn't apply everywhere.
Even still, this is a weird extrapolation. This is just taking a look at people buying into Apples and Microsoft's promotions, not everyone is aware of these promotions. On top of that, the research firm reporting this wants apples stock prices to rise to $400, so it wouldn't surprise me if they fluffed up this report to make things seem way better then they are.
Macs have always had nice userbase in colleges, but 80% of incoming students buying them is too far fetched for me to believe. It doesn't matter how much nicers macs are, they're generally more expensive and most people like cheaper things.
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80% seems like a lot to me too, to be honest, but remember we're talking about incoming students, not current students. When a college senior bought his laptop in 2008 all of his friends weren't using iPhones and iPads like they are today. And if I remember correctly, until a few years ago the Macbook Pro's were much more expensive, leaving a lot of college students with only the plastic macbook as an affordable option (which aren't nearly as appealing).
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Computer Science student here, in Sweden where Apple has a smaller market than in the US. I'd say about 30% of laptops are macs, the number is even higher among the engineering students.
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I've worked at my universities IT department and I can attest to a growing number of MB/MBP users, but its certainly not anywhere near 80%. Windows with its plethora of manufacturers is definitely still in the lead. Perhaps not for long though.
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I think there's a socioeconomic factor as well. I go to a big 10 school (not athletic conference, in terms of price) and I'd say that a pretty high percentage of each incoming class uses Mac.
I don't think it's as high as that article suggests, my estimate would be around 60-70% of the entire population use a Mac laptop and 80+% use and iDevice of some sort.
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Nebulous statements by Global Equities.
“Our research indicates that ~80% of incoming students are buying Apple Computers vs. Windows computers. Incrementally more students, who are enrolled in the online university, such as Phoenix Online, are buying Apple Computers – this was not necessarily the case last year.”
Are they saying that 80% of Phoenix Online students are buying Apple, or students from all over the country? It doesn't say.
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Buying. Not every student buys a laptop, some already have one, etc.
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Makes sense to me. Portability + battery life + everyone uses the same charger :) + various other reasons = perfect college laptop.
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Exactly, that's why I replaced my Fujitsu with a MacBook Pro. 8 hours of useable battery life without having to plug in your laptop makes it a truly portable machine.
The Fujitsu barely got 2 hours of battery life before needing to be plugged in and had continual problems waking up after being put to sleep.
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It amazes me that no one else seems to be able to get the sleep thing right. It's 2011 for crying out loud. Sleep/wake cycling should be old hat by now.
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Funny my 400.00 HP laptop sleeps/wakes just fine.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
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Never needing to carry a charger anywhere is amazing.
GoGo freeloader effect.
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The same MAGNETIC charger. No more broken power ports!
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I'm on my third macbook charger. Mine broke, then my girlfriend and I had to share one and it broke and now we've had to buy bought a new one.
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Still, $80 for a new charger ($30 if you get a "generic" replacement) vs. $50 for a DIY laptop repair (to replace the computer's port, not the charger) and three days of my old laptop being out of commission during finals...
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Uniformity works in Apple's favor. Interchangeable chargers, accessories, skins, sleeves, shells, holsters, etc. all equals a reduction in overall costs in computer cruft - i.e. all the other stuff you deal with in regards to owning a computer.
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At Cal, I notice at least 2/3rds Macs. For those who bring their computer to class, it's more like 90%.
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According to a report from Global Equities Research, more incoming college students are picking up an Apple computer than a Windows computer this year.
And where I go, I see far more Apple laptops than anything else.
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At my university, 80% would be conservative.
I just graduated from Penn though.
I rarely would see a ThinkPad. The kids I knew with PCs had self-built desktop rigs for doing crazy rendering or gaming. Many also had a MacBook Pro.
My anecdotal evidence = your anecdotal evidence.
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I will support your anecdotal evidence as a college student with a MacBook Pro, and a crazy self-built desktop for 3D modeling and CFD. (And video games :D)
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I think they number is more reasonable if you're only counting people buying a new computer this summer. There are many people who are on their second/third/fourth year with their computers. Even if Macs are outselling PCs this year, that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be the majority of computers you see on campus right away.
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This study is performed every year. Here are some statistics from the University of Virginia in 2010 that showed Apple's share at 47%. Extrapolating from their graph, it's likely 53% in 2011.
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Nothing says real life is a straight line without nonlinearity. Of course, a technology adoption curve is nonlinear.
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Looks like the switch from iPods to the gift card for the back-to-school promotion isn't hurting sales much.
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if you want a mac youll still buy one, the gift card is just boring
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The gift card may be boring, but the songs and apps, etc., it gets you aren't.
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Most college students get them for free
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Apps? Paid apps?
I know you can pirate iOS apps, but the process isn't something most people will do.
As for music, sure, but unless you're hoisting the jolly roger as a banner of pride and not just necessity, it's still nice to get proper song downloads for free.
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Actually it's an interesting behavioral economics effect if it really is affecting sales.
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I'm a recent convert. Besides the price, the biggest thing that was holding me back was Apples decision to use old tech instead of the latest and greatest. But that changed when they were the first to get Sandy Bridge, plus a $200 discount from Microcenter and I was sold.
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It wasn't specifically Apple's decision. They were stuck with Core2Duo because they chose Nvidia integrated graphics (over Intel's), which were much better. But then Intel didn't extend the right for Nvidia to make chipsets for the Core i3/i5/i7 processors, so Apple was stuck with using discrete graphics, using Intel's awful integrated graphics, or staying with Core2Duo and Nvidia's graphics.
They chose the the first one for computers with dedicated graphics, and the latter for those without. And once Intel's graphics were close to even with the Nvidia 320M, they switched the integrated systems over (or are in the process of it, which should finish up not long after Lion is out).
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At the university where I do IT there is no way it is anything higher than 50%.
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I take specialized classes through multiple colleges (UC San Diego, UC Riverside, CBU, UofR, Chapman/Brandman). I would say it is close to 80%. Rare is a PC, especially in upper division 500 and 600 level classes. In full disclosure though, they are also Ed. classes.
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I'm a student at a university with a fairly large arts program. The school "strongly recommends" that incoming students buy a 15" MBP. Our campus even has a computer store that is an official Apple retailer and repair center. If you buy an Apple computer from them with Applecare, they tack on an extra year of warranty so you're covered for a full four years.
Even with all of encouragement and incentive to buy a Mac, I would say the percentage is closer to 20% than 80%.
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20% is about the same for the consumer market in general (it drops to a bit over 10% once you add things like enterprise purchases). College use is much higher. Anyone who says Apple only has about 20% in a college (especially one which seems to push Macs) seems a bit suspicious.
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Last semester I would say 2/3rds were MacBooks, but I was the only person using an iPad instead. There was a lot of interest in how I was taking notes with it.
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How were you taking notes with it?
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On the built in notepad. Very easy for me.
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From the article's source article:
Incrementally more students, who are enrolled in the online university, such as Phoenix Online, are buying Apple Computers
Is this what they based it on? Does this shit really count as "income college students"?
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This seems high, but the percentage at my campus (I'm a prof) just seems to get higher every year.
Our school's bookstore offers two deals on "back to school" laptops: A 13" MBP and some fucking Panasonic monstrosity. The specs are comparable, but:
The Mac is made of metal while the Panasonic is made of shitty silver-painted plastic.
The Apple screen is bright and crisp; the Panasonic is dull and blurry.
The Apple keyboard is solid and backlit; the Panasonic is springy and dark.
The Apple has a slot-loading optical drive; the Panasonic's right palmrest is a flimsy plastic door that opens to reveal a flimsy plastic optical drive.
The Apple trackpad is huge, glass, and has multitouch; the Panasonic has a little fucking round, recessed track pad with two buttons so far from the surface that you have to strain your hand to hit them.
The Apple is smooth, with a regular surface that makes it easy to slide into a backpack; the Panasonic is covered with bumps and thumps and grooves and ports and screws and buttons all over the fucking thing, and these get caught on your backpack fabric when you try to put it away (I know; the school issues the same laptop to teachers and I sometimes bring it to class as a spare).
The Apple looks cool; the Panasonic looks like a total piece of shit.
Yeah, the bookstore moves a lot of Macs.
People who discount these things as "cosmetic" don't really get it. Long-term, what differentiates a good product from a bad product is the experience of using it. That's what Apple gets and what few others do. It doesn't matter how many numbers are on a bullet list if the product is so ungainly and unpleasant to use that you just don't. Details count.