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Combined, iMacs reach No. 1 in April
May 21, 1999
Even though iMac sales dropped during April, if you combine all models and all colors, the iMac was the No. 1 machine sold by a slight margin, according to PC Data.
The bad news: for only the second time since August 1998 when the iMac was introduced, there is not a flavor of the machine in PC Data's top five list. The good news: the iMac was the No. 1 selling computer during April by a slight margin, if all colors and processor speeds were combined, according to David Ferguson with PC Data.
The top-selling Apple product was the iMac G3/233 MHz, the Bondi Blue box, with a 15-inch monitor. According to PC data, this machine ranked seventh in sales of hardware during April. The average price for the Rev A/Rev B Bondi Blues is down to $900.
The general trend in the PC industry is consumers are going for the lower-priced machines. In fact, during April, the No. 1 selling computer was Compaq's Presario 5070, which sells for around $670.
The top-selling Rev D machine was the blueberry iMac G3/333 MHz, which ranked 21st on the PC Data list. The next-most popular flavored 333 MHz machine was grape, ranked 45th, followed by lime at 60th, strawberry at 66th and tangerine at 83rd. For all flavors, the average price was around $1,165.
Rev C boxes, iMac G3/266 MHz, held four positions in the top 100: tangerine, at number 47; blueberry at 56; grape at 95; and strawberry at 96. The lime-flavored machine was ranked 131st. Average prices ranged from about $1,100 for lime to about $1,155 for the grape.
PowerMacs held their own as well during April in the PC Data rankings. The highest-ranked among them was the G3/300 MHz at 16th, selling for about $1,525. The new PowerMac G3/400 MHz was ranked 31st, with an average selling price of about $2,820.
But PC Data's numbers are only part of the story, according to Eric Yang of AppleInvestors, a Web site that follows Apple's stock and marketing activities, since the numbers only represent the U.S. retail market, and PC Data only samples a fraction of U.S. retailers..
"The U.S. market accounts for 50 percent of Apple's global sales," Yang said. "The retail segment is a fraction of that. My estimate is that retail sales accounts for about 30 percent to 40 percent of U.S. sales."
Yang explains the iMac's model-specific slip out of the top five in several ways, including the availability of the 266s and the lack of a price drop for these older machines.
"Apple decreased unit shipment of 266 MHz models in anticipation of the introduction of 333 MHz models," he said. "Also, Apple did not drop the MAP (equivalent of MSRP) price for 266 MHz models."
In addition, the demand for the already hard-to-find 266s was stymied slightly because Apple made its announcement about the 333s around April 14, but the machines didn't start showing up at resellers for a week or so.
Another factor that contributes to the slip from the top five is Apple's fragmentation of products. Last quarter, Apple had six products on the market. This quarter, the company has 11: the PowerMac, plus five flavors of 266s, plus five flavors of 233s.
"Bottom line in terms of unit shipment this quarter?" Yang said. "Unit shipment is expected to increase by about 100k units over the 827k units last quarter. 'Sell through' (units sold out of the channel) of iMacs is expected to increase over the 400k+ units last quarter."
