With the strong launch of the “Mac OS X Leopard,” Apple took more than half of sales shares in October.

Apple shipped their new OS “Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard” on October 26th. According to our “BCN Ranking” in the Japanese market, the “Leopard” took 53.9% of monthly sales share of the OS market only six days after its launch.

The “Leopard” took 53.9% of monthly shares in October with two versions.

“Mac OS X” is the OS for Macintosh computers and the “Leopard” is its latest version. Apple originally scheduled shipment of the “Leopard” this spring. However,to ship the “iPhone” on time, they could not release the “Leopard” as scheduled. As a result, Mac users had to wait until October for the “Leopard.”

In the October Japanese OS market, the top seller was the “Mac OS X Leopard Single User License” with 46.0% of sales share. Second place was the “Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack,” which is a single-household, five-user license with 7.9% share. Apple took 53.9% of OS market share with both versions of the “Leopard.” This was amazing even if the number of shares included pre-orders from the Apple on-line store.

As a result, Apple’s maker share was also up to 60.7% from 15.5% compared with previous months. Apple overcame Microsoft’s share after an interval of two and half years since the May 2005 launch of “Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.”

Simple lineup of “Mac OS” — the difference is the number of license.

“Mac OS X” does not have different editions such as “Home” or “Professional” like Microsoft “Windows.” Their lineup is simple, “Single User License” or “Family Pack.” The difference is only the number of licenses.

“Mac OS X” also does not have upgrade versions so that all Mac users who want the “Leopard” have to buy the full package product. However, an upgrade package is available to users who purchased a qualifying new Mac PC on or after October 1st for a shipping and handling fee of ¥1,280.

It seemed inconvenient when we heard that there is no upgrade edition, but the retail price of the “Leopard” is not very expensive. For example, the “Leopard Single User Version” is ¥14,700 (on November 8th; estimated by BCN). On the other hand, “Windows Vista Home Premium” is ¥30,300 and “Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade” is ¥19,600.

We can see here the smart sales strategy of Apple. They reformed the “Mac OS X” in a short period of time with no upgrade version and a reasonable price.

Most successful OS in the history of Apple

When we look at the makers’ monthly sales share transition over a year, Microsoft always took 70%-80% share. They took 91.2% share this February with the launch of “Windows Vista.” However, Apple’s share drastically increased to 60.7% this October.

Strong sales of the “Leopard” are worldwide. Apple announced that the “Leopard” sold more than two million packages since its release on October 26th. It is outpacing the first-weekend sales of the “Mac OS X Tiger,” which was previously their most successful OS. The question now is how long can they keep up this good situation.

Matching the launch of the “Leopard,” Apple replaced their standard laptop PC “MacBook” with its latest version on November 2nd. “MacBook Pro” and “Mac Pro” may also upgrade soon. There is also a rumor from Mac users that a mobile laptop, without a DVD drive from “MacBook,” will release next January. This winter will be a hot season for both Apple and Mac users.（Text by Mitsuhiro Nakamura）