PC users who’ve had to put up with mac owners going on about their purchase have always had a single rebuttal: “If Macs are so great, why don’t they have a bigger market share?”
My answer has always been to point at strategic business decisions that made it easier for PCs to spread in the early days. An operating system that works on any box travels well. We’re a resilient species and learned to live with the thorns that come from our love/hate relationship with Windows.
But after 18 years of owning Macs and 12 years running businesses on them, it just occurred to me that Apple has had a virtual stranglehold on it’s market since day one. It’s just a matter of how you define the market.
I wonder why it never occurred to me before: What other brand is measured by it’s status in the entire world? Not even automobile brands are measured by true international share. That’s silly.
We encourage our clients to define their audiences as “communities of interest”: Enthusiasts interested because something a brand does resonates with their values. Most of us consumers don’t define ourselves by the brands we buy anymore (that’s so 80’s). So why would this Mac/PC market share discussion be about anyone who could possibly use a computer?
Apple never targeted everyone. The folks they spoke to through smart, well designed tools were a smaller niche of people who would appreciate their efforts. And evangelize for them.
PCs are for “users”. Macs are for fans. Great strategy because it’s a win/win. Instead of looking at the market as prospective buyers, Apple’s partnership approach puts the “co” in ‘consumer’. As a long time fan, I’m grateful they’ve been able to keep up their end of the bargain.
