Edible Apple

Recent NPD data shows that 12% of US households own some sort of Mac computer, a significant jump from the 9% figure recorded a year ago.  But what’s intriguing about NPD’s recent data is that a whopping 85% of those Mac using households also own a PC.  I suppose this means that Mac marketshare can grow without having a significant impact on PC marketshare.  In that respect, a more telling figure would be what percentage of new computer purchases are Macs as opposed to PCs.

It’s no secret that Macs are more expensive than their PC counterparts, and it therefore shouldn’t be too surprising that NPD’s data shows that 66% of Mac owning households own 3 computers or more.  By way of comparison, only 29% of households which use a PC own 3 computers or more.  On that note, Stephen Baker, NPD’s VP of industry analysis, wrote that Mac owners tend to be more affluent, with 36% of “Apple computer owners reporting household income greater than $100,000, compared to 21% of all consumers.”

That said, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Mac owning households are also more likely than their PC counterparts to own other high-end devices such as Digital SLR cameras and large screen HDTV’s.