Sales of Apple devices forecasted to equal those of Windows PCs this year

It’s no secret that Apple devices are a hot commodity these days while sales of Windows PCs are simultaneously on the decline. In charting the phenomenon, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu shares just how well each category is doing and ultimately believes that sales of Apple devices will equal those of Windows PCs at some point this year.

Dediu found that as of last year, Microsoft was only selling 1.18 more Windows PCs versus Apple devices. But before you read into it too much, it’s worth pointing out that the comparison isn’t exactly apples to apples (no pun intended).

When charting Apple device sales, Dediu is including the Mac, iPad and iPhone but for Microsoft, it’s strictly Windows-based PCs. Again, he isn’t including sales of Windows Phones or Windows-based tablets, just PCs. Even still, current charts probably aren’t too far off base when you consider Microsoft hasn’t had a ton of success in the mobile sector just yet.

The data is particularly interesting because it points to shifts taking place long before Apple launched the iPhone. Dediu and John Gruber from Daring Fireball have a couple of theories as to why that is and it all starts with the iPod.

Millions were first introduced to Apple through the company’s iconic portable music player. This led many to question what a computer from Apple might be like and helped ease the barrier between switching from a PC to a Mac. The arrival of the iPhone only helped to drive this point home.

By: Shawn Knight