A pple scored well in July in a survey on consumer computer shopping plans. Investoris Daily Business (IBD) is reporting that 8% of consumers likely to buy a computer in July were considering a Mac, making Apple the #2 brand behind Dell. The results were part of the IBD/TIPP Home Computer Purchase Index, a monthly index of computer purchasing plans. From IBD:
Dell was the preferred brand of 50% of likely PC buyers in July. That ties its best showing ever from April.
Two brands known for multimedia capabilities scored surprisingly well. Apple Computer was the No. 2 brand for the first time. It was the choice of 8% of likely buyers. Sony was No. 3 with 6% of likely buyers, a new high for the company.
Apple and Sony both sell PCs optimized to handle digital media such as music, video and photos.
Apple is riding a huge wave of publicity and media attention surrounding strong sales of its iPod portable music players. That success might be rubbing off on its PC business, says Roger Kay, an analyst with International Data Corp. Consumers might be looking to extend their iPod experience to Appleis Macintosh computers.
The survey is conducted by TIPP, a unit of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, and the results come are based on interviews of 1,026 US adults in a random telephone survey during the week of July 19 through 25.
There is more information on the Index, how it is compiled, and consumer buying trends in the full article at IBD.