Poll Results: Macintosh Ownership -- Steve Jobs's Macworld Expo 2000 keynote trumpeted Apple's impressive ownership numbers: roughly a quarter of iBook buyers and half of iMac buyers were new to the Mac. But Apple's repeat customers have traditionally been the company's ace in the hole, buying Macs even when Apple's future was murky. So we asked: "Over the years, how many Macs have you personally bought for your individual use at work or at home?" Of more than 2,300 respondents, nearly two thirds indicated they had purchased between two and five Macs over the years. Other responses fit nearly along a bell curve, with the notable exception that about 8 percent of respondents indicated they had purchased ten or more Macs for personal use over the years. These results would seem not only to reflect the loyalty of Apple's customers, but also to reinforce Apple's sales figures showing that the majority of Macintosh sales still go to existing Apple customers. Apple definitely needs to grow the size of the Macintosh market by attracting new converts to the platform, but the company has to ensure that initiatives aimed at attracting converts don't come at the expense of the more valuable long-time customers. [JLC]
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