Apple will gain significant marketshare according to Investor's Business Daily

You guessed it, Apple is poised to make large market share gains.  So says Investor’s Business Daily and their measurement of a recent ChangeWave survey. How much remains to be seen.  The numbers IBD picked up were very promising:

ChangeWave recently conducted two surveys that gauged PC-buying plans over the next 90 days — a period running from the holiday shopping season into first-quarter 2008. It polled members of its alliance, which includes technology and business executives with leading companies in select industries. Its members tend to be more tech-savvy and have higher disposable incomes than the general public.

The Rockville, Md.-based firm’s poll results have proved prescient, predicting the rise in PC sales for Apple and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and the downturn for Dell (DELL) in recent years.

The latest ChangeWave consumer poll found that 29% of likely notebook and desktop PC buyers in the next 90 days are planning to get a Mac. That’s higher than consumer purchase intent for HP laptops (21%), HP desktops (24%) and Dell laptops (28%). But Dell had higher demand for its desktops (31%).

The trend line is clearly up for Apple. Two years ago, 16% of likely notebook PC buyers and 11% of desktop PC buyers planned to buy Macs. Demand for Macs has risen steadily ever since. Analysts credit the "halo effect" from the company’s popular iPod portable music players and iPhone smart phones. People that buy and like iPods and iPhones are inclined to try Macs.

Why the big change?

More consumers are buying Macs because they’re turned off by PCs using Windows operating system, Smith says. Complaints about the latest version of Windows, called Vista, and positive reviews for the new Apple Mac OS, called Leopard, have fueled Mac sales, he says.

Nearly one-in-four respondents (24%) of the most recent poll, completed in early November, say that the release of the Leopard operating system makes them more likely to buy a Mac in the future.

What about in the business?  Apple is improving but didn’t fare nearly as well.

A separate ChangeWave poll of corporate PC buyers found increasing demand for Apple as well. For companies planning to buy computers next quarter, 7% of laptop buyers and 6% of desktop buyers plan to get Macs. That’s up from 4% of laptop buyers and 3% of desktop buyers two years ago. Windows PCs, led by those from HP and Dell, have a much stronger hold over the commercial market than the consumer market.

Apple still has a long way to go to get any significant market share.  They are starting from such a small percentage that it even significat gains still put it at a small percentage of the overall market.  For more numbers, head over to the article.

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