Snow Leopard Leaps Out of the Gate

Sales during the first two weeks of Apple's Snow Leopard OS X release far exceed those of the last two Apple operating systems.

(Gawkwire.com) Sales during the first two weeks of Apple's Snow Leopard OS X release far exceed those of the last two Apple operating systems. According to leading market research company The NPD Group's retail tracking service, Snow Leopard sales were more than two times higher than Leopard's initial release sales and almost four times higher than Tiger.

"Even though some considered Snow Leopard to be less feature-focused than the releases of Leopard or Tiger, the ease of upgrading to Snow Leopard and the affordable pricing made it a win-win for Apple computer owners - thus helping to push sales to record numbers" said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

Snow Leopard's sales momentum extended beyond the initial first week purchasing rush.
Sales only declined about 25 percent from week 1 to week 2, while for both Leopard and Tiger the second week of sales was more than 60 percent below the opening week volumes.

"With pricing reduced by more than $100 for both the single-user and five-user pack versus Leopard pricing, Apple has clearly demonstrated that aggressive pricing policies in this economic environment generate an outstanding consumer response," said Baker. "As we head into the fall selling season, and the release of another major OS upgrade, it will be instructive to see if that upgrade - currently projected to sell at ASPs much higher than Snow Leopard - can deliver the same incremental increase in consumer demand that Snow Leopard has enjoyed."