The 1990's got the world used to the idea of Apple as the struggling underdog, fighting the evil empire and surviving against all odds. It was a romantic image, and one I've no doubt the higher-ups at Apple love to foster, but today it's become increasingly inaccurate. Apple is huge now. They're one of the leading smartphone manufacturers on the planet, and in a couple of years they'll probably be at the top of that heap.

And now Apple can add personal computer domination to their list of achievements. In the 'premium' computer category, Apple controls 91% of the market share. Premium computers are machines that cost more than $1,000. That's a segment of the market I'm not at all surprised to hear Apple owns, especially considering the fact that all of their desktops and notebooks cost more than that.

Still, this does represent a substantial boost for Apple. As recently as Q1 2008 their share of this same market was just 66%. Somehow Apple has done the impossible; they've convinced America to spend more money on luxury computers during the worst recession in recent memory. So, does this mean Apple's going to threaten Windows PC dominance? Or that Microsoft's Laptop Hunters ads -haven't- been working?

No, it just means that Windows PC manufacturers have shifted up their game a little bit. The average selling price of a PC in the US is $701. Apple does not even compete at the lower brackets, which is where the vast majority of computer manufacturers work. Cupertino still has a lot to be proud of, they are still dominating their market segment, but they aren't spelling out the death of Windows machines. Not even Vista was able to do that.