A national survey of 1,200 consumers conducted by Solutions Research Group found that 3 out of 4 surveyed Americans wanted a new gadget this holiday season. The rankings went a little something like this:
- HDTV (35%)
- Windows-based notebook (20%)
- Digital camera (17%)
- Windows-based desktop computer
- GPS car navigation
- Cellphone
- Digital video camera
- Nintendo Wii
- Sony PS3
- HD DVD or Blu-ray player
So where's Apple, the big bad daddy of consumer electronics? Well, their best showing was the MacBook with an 11 ranking followed by the iPhone at number 15. Pretty good when you consider the level of brand awareness this represents in a field of otherwise unspecified laptops and cellphones. In fact, 1-in-6 consumers are hoping for some type of Apple gear under the Chanukazaa tree this season.
posted October 10th 2007 9:42AM
I've never REALLY felt that Apple bought engadget or anything like that, but this article is making me think otherwise. I looked through the list, didn't see Apple and was very confused as to how the hell that title came about.
Seriously Thomas, I think everyone would be better off if you left Apple out of the discussion until the news is actually about them. Magically proclaiming its awesomeness in an article about a top ten list on which they do not appear is just too much.
Chanukazaa: It'll cost you $9,000 for each menorah candle you light and illegally make available to others to view.
I want that Wii so much
wow. I don't think Thomas is in bed with apple, but he's clearly bending over hoping for steve to pay him a visit. fanboy much?
and maybe my understanding of stats is off, but where is 1 out of 6 coming from when 0 of 10 want apple?
stick with your day job of grammatical error.
Reason 360 and iPod aren't on the list is 'cause most of those folks that wanted them already got'em.
With all the prattling on about brand awareness among some of the commenters here, I thought I'd point out this paragraph from the article:
--
The hottest Apple product in the survey was the MacBook, ranking No. 11 overall. The iPhone was second at No. 15. Even though no individual computer maker's products broke the top 10 overall, Apple-branded products as a whole would have landed the company in the top 5, with one in six consumers considering a purchase. The findings suggest a strong holiday season for the company, SRG said.
--
So taking the same method of lumping all BRANDS of windows products into one entry and lumping all APPLE products into one entry, you get a different order on the list.
If you break apart the laptops or desktops entry into their BRANDS instead of their CLASS (ie.. Operating System or type) then, as the article says, none of them, Apple included, made the top 10.
Most consumers don't buy a "windows" laptop, they buy a Dell, an Acer, or an Apple. The very concept of Brand Consciousness is the foundation of that decision making. There really isn't a strong level of brand consciousness for Windows over Apple. But there is for Dell vs. Apple, for instance.
So take a step back from the keyboard, put down your knee-jerk prejudices and think about what the article is saying, how it's saying it, and whether it's saying something that makes sense. Then pick up the keyboard and post.
THANK YOU Scott!
Finally, some reasonable thinking among the commenters here. I was a little confused about the title at first, but when I ACTUALLY READ THE SOURCE ARTICLE, it made sense.
But I guess Engadget can't rely on the fact that some of their (very vocal and stupid) readers won't read the source article.
In an effort to educate, I'll copy that paragraph from the source article again:
--
The hottest Apple product in the survey was the MacBook, ranking No. 11 overall. The iPhone was second at No. 15. Even though no individual computer maker's products broke the top 10 overall, Apple-branded products as a whole would have landed the company in the top 5, with one in six consumers considering a purchase. The findings suggest a strong holiday season for the company, SRG said.
--
Oh, and those criticizing the sample size of the survey know squat about statistics. Go get an education.
assdf
You guys are right, I mean, Apple is really doing horrible. In the past 6-7 years, you've seen a company that used to hover around $12 a share... go to about... $160 a share? Man, that company is going through some hard times, you know, that invention called iPod sucked, no one bought it, iTunes and its music store sucked, that iPhone is just a flop. I bet they just stop making it. Apples operating system is horrible too.
Really, what people want, is a new Zune and a copy of Vista, cause those products are super cool. (yet I haven't seen anyone own/use either of them, strange).
-cjg
"Carbonize @ Oct 10th 2007 1:09PM
Questioning 1,200 people (assuming they were questioned and not just given a list of things to choose from) will hardly give you an accurate picture of what a population of billions is thinking now will it. Might of well just gone down the nearest bar and asked the people in there.
- Anyway 98.8% of statistics are made up."
Actually in marketing research and statistics books you will see that random 1000 is enough of a sample size for just about any survey for a given area. a random 1000 from the US will not give you an estimate for the world, but it will give a good gauge for the 303,091,652+ people in the US.
Engadget has a great format, that said, who allows this title, irresponsible reporting! i am betting the next time a soldier dies in iraq, microsoft will be blamed with a title to the story being "Apple Smarter Faster, Military agrees" apple is an enemy of microsoft, engadget is owned by AOL who despises microsoft, they now have jumped on the bandwagon of haters.
the air of apple is very repulsive, at some point it would have been nice for me to see what their products were about, now i will not do business with any person or business that openly uses such devices, ipod or not. i receive great pleasure in shunning this sort from my premises. Best Buy no longer receives my business, i will not hire, nor socialize, all for this basic reason.
Sincerely guys, it is easy to ignore any kind of "harmless" bias towards Apple from Engadget.
Forget it, let them be and get the news anyway. When you read the news and make good comments I get a lot of pleasure from their insight.
For me is interesting to see how high in the ranks is the HDDVD/BD fight. Considering this Toshiba/Sony guys are giving us a hard time with a stupid format war. We should punish that offering with indiference and stick to the now cheaper DVD's till they get their brains lobotomized. Furthermore, I think that waiting a year to buy a "Full HD" LCD/Plasma is the right way to go. They will be a third or less the price next season, and it will be easier for us to get the content to run on those machines. Maybe you can get a second LCD HD Ready this year (below a grand), and next year you can give it to your mother-in-law when you buy the FULLHD
Yes, the writer Thomas Ricker is in bed with Apple. And yes, he prefers to catch than pitch.
WILL EVERYBODY WHO DOESNT LIKE APPLE IN THE NEWS STOP COMMENTING ON EVERY SINGLE APPLE ARTICLE!!! really, if you dont like apple then stop wasting yours and everybody else's time by making useless comments and whining about how engadget reports on technology news. too bad for you if apple has been releasing products and making ranking lists! Sheesh just scroll on by and stop wasting the time and the page space of those of us who are mature enough to recognize technological news and to be able to read something that has a companies name on it. Maybe Engadget should have a restriction for those who can't handle the name of any company and blocks you from seeing the articles with actual corporation names on them. Guess what you'll get then ?? almost no articles at all. So stay quiet and stop wasting the people, who can handle articles that recognize companies for making good products and be highly ranked on consumer lists, time!
Go cry somewhere else and stop making a mockery of Engadget.
"Windows Based Notebook"
Where I'm from, we call those notebooks.
"Windows Based Desktop Computer"
We call those PCs.
I have to admit to a little confusion. Based on the list, it's clear that all people want for Christmas is their HDTV and *Windows* laptops and desktop systems. Apple products didn't get into the top ten and your much beloved and talked about iPhone came in at 15th. Mac desktops aren't even on the list.
How that got spun into "... and an Apple" is stretching it at best. Yeah, they came in at 11 and 15, but Windows systems came in at 2 and 4.
Sorry guys, this isn't an Apple article and not only did you choose to sling it that way anyway - somehow you managed to skip over the much more obvious conclusions:
- Windows laptops and desktops are still way more popular (or in demand at least) than Macs (which would explain the 90%+ marketshare Microsoft has...)
- The iPod isn't even on the chart, which has all sorts of possible consequences.
- The iPhone is surprisingly high up (15th), but its still deep in hype-land.
- The difference in demand for Mac laptops and Mac desktops might indicate that a lot of people are buying Mac laptops because they can run Windows on them as well as running MacOS X.
"Pretty good when you consider the level of brand awareness this represents in a field of otherwise unspecified laptops and cellphones"
They specified Windows.
Just because the general public have pitiful and meagre knowledge of electronics and decided that 'Macbook' was synonymous with 'OS X-running laptop' doesn't make Apple any more significant.
Who would ever want a video camera??? Interesting...
Because this story tries to make apple look good when in reality they didnt even make it to the top ten.
In a reality where people read, you would have discovered the article said...
--
The hottest Apple product in the survey was the MacBook, ranking No. 11 overall. The iPhone was second at No. 15. Even though no individual computer maker's products broke the top 10 overall, Apple-branded products as a whole would have landed the company in the top 5, with one in six consumers considering a purchase. The findings suggest a strong holiday season for the company, SRG said.
--
It appears Apple is looking good for this holiday season.
Lol, those news writers known how to keep the crown alive(and a bit angry)
Um...did any of you read the source article? For the ignorant:
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The hottest Apple product in the survey was the MacBook, ranking No. 11 overall. The iPhone was second at No. 15. Even though no individual computer maker's products broke the top 10 overall, Apple-branded products as a whole would have landed the company in the top 5, with one in six consumers considering a purchase. The findings suggest a strong holiday season for the company, SRG said.
--
The source article was about two things: HDTV and Apple. Engadget got it right.
Have you noticed that half the item on the list are catagories while the other half are items...
I mean isn't an iPhone a cellphone? Its like asking someone whether they would vote for Bush, Kerry, Democrat or Republican since the last 2 items are actually moot and they don't make sense at all!
Hmmm... isn't calling Apple "the big bad daddy of consumer electronics" a little bit much? They made a really popular MP3 player, an expensive cell phone, and a niche line of computers, last time I checked?
What's interesting is that gadgets like the PS3, Blu-ray, and HD-DVD players, which have been an overwhelmingly "wait and see" sort of purchase this year in the minds of most consumers, made the list, while the "gotta have it" iPhone and perennial iPod didn't.
And no disrespect to Apple for making the iPod such a hit, but Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Nintendo, and several dozen other companies might object to the concept of Apple being known as the "big bad daddy of consumer electronics". MP3 players, sure, but let's be realistic.