May 2009: Apple Mac OS share rises to 9.81% - up 25% year over year

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May 2009: Apple Mac OS share rises to 9.81% - up 25% year over year

Jun
01

By: switchtoamac at: 11:13 AM on June 1, 2009 | Comments (0)

According to market research firm Net Applications, Apple's Mac OS market share rose to 9.81 percent during May 2009. These metrics detail the computer operating systems that visit sites tracked by Net Applications. Not only did the May 2009 increase reverse the decline observed in April 2009 but it also shows that Mac OS market share rose by over 25 percent on a year-over-year (YOY) basis. In May 2008 Mac OS share stood at 7.83 percent, just a year later it checks in just shy of two percentage points higher.

Key Percent Increases

Up 25.29 percent since May 2008
Down 1.21 percent since January 2009

The following is a view of Apple's Mac OS share month by month for the past twelve months from May 2008 to May 2009. The table tracks Mac OS market share for 2009 and 2008 and highlights the year-over-year (Y-O-Y) increase on a percentage basis. In this scenario, year over year measures the percent change in Mac market share (based on Net Applications data) versus the same month in the 2008.

Analysis and Commentary
Mac OS X first penetrated the 9 percent level in December 2008 and checked in short of 10 percent in January 2009. Although February experienced a fall to 9.61 percent the trend over the past three months has risen. Given the growth in the netbook market, Mac OS X (therefore Macs) appear to be holding their own. At the end of May Apple announced the 2009 Back-To-School program that gives qualified education customers a free iPod when they purchase a new Mac. The program will lend support to Mac OS X metrics during the summer months and will likely be followed by a spike in September.

Net Applications provides a measure of installed base, rather than 'market share' in the classic sense. One can argue however that Net Applications' use of the phrase 'Operating System Market Share' does provide insight into operating system usage and trends. The Net Applications data over the past few years clearly demonstrates that the Mac user base continues to rise and is supported by research from firms such as Gartner and IDC.

About Market Share (by Net Applications)
Net Applications makes the following mention of their tracking methodology on their website:

"We use a unique methodology for collecting this data. We collect data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive on-demand network of live stats customers. The data is compiled from approximately 160 million visitors per month. The information published is an aggregate of the data from this network of hosted website statistics. The site unique visitor and referral information is summarized on a monthly, weekly, daily and hourly basis."

You can learn about Net Applications here and see the full May 2009 report for multiple operating systems at the following link.