Apple Has 80% Of South Africa's Graphics Market

by , 11:00 AM EST, February 24th, 2004

AllAfrican.com has an interesting report on Apple's efforts to gain market share in South Africa. The media outlet says while Apple's market share in the struggling economy of South Africa is at 2%, the company owns some 80% of the graphic design industry. From AllAfrica.com:

Ten years after re-entering the South African market, Apple still has less than 2% of the local R1 billion desktop market - a market share that is little better than the roughly 1% it had after being absent from the country for the eight years before 1994. This is even lower than Apple's worldwide market share average of about 3.5%.

[...]

Apple's South African sales of other products have emulated the company's success overseas. Sales of the iPod flash memory MP3 music recorder have been good, as have sales in the G4 and G5 Mackintosh ranges. It has maintained its traditional dominance of the local creative content industry with a market share of about 80% in the graphics design, desktop publishing and video-editing segments.

However, Apple wants to penetrate the corporate market with its wireless LAN and higher end products.

"The changes have largely come from Apple and the retail strategy has had to change," says Rodney Ichikowitz, CEO of The Core Group. "We are now emphasizing that Apple can put in place a total solution."

The story also says that Apple has changed it retailing strategy, as some of Apple's previous distributors have gone out of business. You can find more information in the full article at AllAfrica.com.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It's a small world, after all. South Africa is a country struggling with the aftermath of decades of Apartheid, an economy wracked with continuing racial turmoil and a crime rate that makes 1970's New York City look like a fortress of law and order, as well as massive poverty. Despite all this, Apple dominates the local graphic design industry.

It just goes to show that a Mac user by any other name is still a Mac user.

AllAfrica.com Story