npd

Apple passes Wal-Mart in music sales?

Tech blog Ars Technica says they've got their hands on an internal Apple memo that shows iTunes has topped Wal-Mart Stores in total global music sales.

The data in the memo cites a report from the month of January conducted by The NPD Group, a market research firm. NPD's numbers show the iTunes Store leading overall music sales for the first month of 2008 with a 19-percent share, followed by Wal-Mart with 15 percent, Best Buy with 13 percent, and Amazon with 6 percent.

The NPD Group, which reserves certain data for paying customers--like Apple, Wal-Mart, and others--and … Read more

NPD: Apple enjoys huge Mac growth in February

Mac shipments were up dramatically in the fourth quarter of last year, and if recent NPD data is any indication, Apple's doing pretty well again this quarter.

AppleInsider spotted a research note from Pacific Crest Securities citing NPD Group data that Apple's Mac shipments grew 60 percent in February compared with the same period last year, while the entire market grew just 9 percent. NPD's data tracks computer purchases made at U.S. retail stores, which means it excludes much of Dell and all online purchases in general, but it does serve as a weather vane for … Read more

Office 2007 sales spur software market

Spurred by sales of Microsoft's Office 2007, the software market hit its highest level since 1999, according to a report released Wednesday by the NPD Group.

Overall, the U.S. non-game PC software market at retail stores totaled $3.3 billion in 2007, a 15 percent increase over the $2.9 billion generated in 2006. The rise is even more notable, as sales had been essentially flat from 2000 through 2006.

But, a whole lot of that is due to Microsoft, largely because of Office, but also because of Vista's debut. According to NPD's Chris Swenson, 80 … Read more

NPD: Mac users saving music business

It's a good thing the music industry has Mac users, according to The NPD Group.

That's because according to a survey conducted by the market research firm, Mac users are more likely to pay to download music--and buy CDs--than Windows users. "There's still a cultural divide between Apple consumers and the rest of the computing world, and that's especially apparent when it comes to the way they interact with music," said Russ Crupnick, an analyst with NPD, in a press release.

The data says that 50 percent of all Mac users surveyed by NPD … Read more

The Queue: What do you wish for?

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Holiday wants[PDF link!]

Winamp hits 10!

Warehouse stores don't stock customer service

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NPD: Forget the iPhone, Mac shipments are up

Even though we're in the middle of iPhone madness, Apple has some good news coming out of its Mac department: market share went up last month.

According to NPD, Mac market share increased from 11.6 percent of the market in April to 13 percent of the market in May. Note that NPD tracks only the U.S. retail industry; those numbers include PC sales at places like Best Buy and Circuit City, but they don't include direct sales, meaning that Dell's totals are excluded.

Still, better to be going up than going down. Apple's notebook … Read more

NPD snaps up Current Analysis' electronics group

NPD and Current Analysis, two of the more well-known analyst firms covering the PC and electronics industry, are teaming up.

NPD has acquired Current Analysis' PC, imaging and consumer electronics businesses, it announced in a press release Thursday. For now, those groups will be called Current Analysis West and maintain their home base in San Diego.

Both firms track the retail electronics industry, providing data on which PCs or flat-screen televisions are selling the most, and why, during critical periods like Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Current Analysis will maintain its own research groups on the East Coast specializing … Read more

Super Bowl turbocharges sales of tube TVs

It looks as if the obituary for CRT TVs will have to be postponed yet again. Sales of the bulky tube models bested the flat-panel and projection TV competition in the run up to the Super Bowl, according to data released by the NPD Group. Sales of tube TVs were up 61 percent the week before the big game (compared to the previous week), as opposed to a 40 percent jump for flat-panel LCD TVs, a 23 percent increase for plasmas, and a 25 percent rise for projection TVs (such as DLP and LCoS models).

While the sales figures may … Read more