Gartner predicts Apple will keep a 69% share this year and will still have 47% by 2015. In addition, Apple had a commanding 87.4% share of the worldwide tablet market last year, according to IDC. However, both Gartner and IDC predict Microsoft's Windows Phone will beat out Apple's iOS for mobile market share by 2015, with Gartner expecting a 19.5% share for Microsoft and 17.2% for Apple.
Mac OS X's share has varied between just 3.5% and 4.0%.Īpple took a significant lead in the smartphone race, capturing 15.7% of the worldwide market last year, compared with just 4.2% for Microsoft.
Market shareīeyond Wall Street, how do the companies stack up in the battle for tech users? Microsoft maintained an overwhelming lead in the desktop operating system business, keeping a roughly 92% share of the market from 2005 to 2009 (the last figures available from IDC).
Investors were right last year, but only time can tell whether that outlook is still justified, given the company's high stock price. Microsoft's, meanwhile, has slipped from $219 billion to $212 billion.īottom line: Wall Street currently thinks more highly of Apple's growth potential and overall prospects than it does of Microsoft's.
Since May 26, 2010, when Apple first inched ahead of Microsoft, Apple's market capitalization has risen from $223 billion to more than $306 billion (as of April 14). While total values for Microsoft and Apple were close last spring, that's no longer the case.