"When you take a look at [Gartner's] PC figures for the US [in the first quarter]... 14,811,000 PCs were shipped, indicating only 2.9% growth in PC sales in the first quarter. In other words the impact on PC sales of Vista appears to have far lower in the US. But actually that 2.9% figure is not what it seems, because 1.15% of that growth is attributable directly to Apple. The sale of Apple Macs grew by 30% in the quarter as they have in quarter after quarter for quite a while now. In other words Vista made no competitive dent whatsoever in the sale of Macs�and that very bad news for Microsoft," Robin Bloor writes for IT-Director.

Bloor writes, "We are witnessing a tipping point in the PC market. Apple now has 5% of the US market, which may seem small, but that 5% punches well above its weight because Apple focuses on the home market�that 5% is more like 15% of the people that actually choose their PCs (in the corporations you get what you are given) and at current rates of growth that 15% will be 30% in the US in about 2 years, unless Apple's momentum slows. Now consider the fact that the US market drives PC buying trends in the rest of the world to some degree and Apple's momentum comes more into focus."