Apple hit the target with Leopard, the NPD Group said Monday. According to Reuters, the research firm’s report described the new OS update as Apple’s best yet in sales, with revenue for the first full month of Leopard up 32.8 percent over the comparable period for the company’s preceding OS release.
Leopard, which went on sale on October 25 after a delay of several months, had unit volume sales that were 20.5 percent more than the previous version, Mac OS 10.4, also known as Tiger.
After the first weekend of sales, Apple said it had moved two million copies of Leopard, OS X 10.5. Apple will not officially report numbers for the period covered by the NPD Group until early next year.
Pent-Up Demand
While the high sales can be attributed in part to the holiday season, NPD noted that the volume shows Apple has found the right approach.
Richard Shim, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, said he was “not surprised” at the good reception Leopard has received in its first full month. He attributed the volume to several factors, in addition to the holiday shopping season.
He said a new OS release usually meets pent-up demand from users, and that was the case for the much-anticipated Leopard. When its release was delayed by Apple, ostensibly because the company needed to focus on the iPhone’s release, there were complaints in the Apple community and suggestions that the company needed more time to add more goodies.
Adding to that pent-up demand and expectation, he said, is that Apple has market momentum derived from the iPhone’s spectacular release and the continued popularity of the iPod, as well as from Mac users.
Vista Reception
At the same time that Apple has been gaining momentum, Shim noted, Microsoft’s new operating system — Vista — has been losing some. Shim…