Apple’s share of the back-to-school computer sales pie continued to grow this year, as new data shows 26.8% of all personal computers sold in the U.S. between Independence Day and Labor Day had that attractive little Apple logo on it somewhere.
Mac sales were up 14 percent year-over-year, compared to a 3 percent decline for Windows-based computers. Apple’s MacBook line was particularly strong, according to market research firm NPD, up 16 percent over the year-ago period.
Google’s Chrome OS increased it’s market share by 1.2 percentage points, to grab a 4.5% piece of the pie.
Much of the non-Apple sales were of the ultra-low-cost type of machines. Sales of sub-$300 Windows-based computers were up 37%, with the average sales price of those machines coming in at $242.
Apple’s share of the sales numbers is even more impressive when you consider that the company does not attempt to compete in the low-end of the market, as the $899 11-inch MacBook Air is the company’s least expensive laptop, while the Mac mini is the company’s lowest priced offering, starting at $599. (Monitor, keyboard, and mouse or trackpad extra.)
