Development opportunities favor Macintosh over Wintel; IDC study reveals that marketing and development via the Macintosh yields companies a better ROI

Business Wire, August 4, 1995

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 1995--According to the International Data Corp. (IDC) report, The Opportunities and Cost for the Macintosh Market, the Macintosh market is more manageable and more profitable than Wintel and is also forecasted to expand over the next five years.

The study determines that the major costs in R&D are head count and capital equipment. And while these costs tend to be the same for each platform, the results show that the larger number and diversity of peripherals and machines in the Wintel environment make secondary costs - such as testing and technical support - higher for that platform than for the Macintosh.

The report also finds that marketing costs are higher in the Wintel environment because more Wintel products go through higher-cost distribution channels, such as distributors that sell to retail stores, than Macintosh products, which are often sold at less expense through catalogs or direct mail. In addition, the report notes that advertising is also more expensive for Wintel products because of the need to place ads in more publications in order to reach a specific market segment or to support retailers.

The study continues on to prove that development and marketing costs for Macintosh projects run less than 73 percent per dollar of revenue than that for Wintel projects; accounting for revenues lost because Wintel projects tend to take at least a month longer to complete than Macintosh projects, that ratio is closer to 65 percent.

The Opportunities and Cost for the Macintosh Market report includes an analysis of the Macintosh systems market and software development opportunities, a statistical analysis of hardware and software developers survey, and five case studies. Inquiries about purchasing this report or any of IDC's other market research services, may be directed to Linda Rich at 508/935-4389.

IDC is the leading provider of market information, industry analysis, and strategic and tactical guidance on the information technology industry. With research centers in more than 40 countries and a staff of more than 300 industry experts, IDC is uniquely positioned to provide a global perspective with local content and expertise.

IDC's subsidiary, LINK Resources Corp., specializes in the convergence of the information, telecommunications, personal computing, and electronic entertainment industries. LINK's detailed analysis and insights are based on the findings of its annual surveys of the residential, home office, and small business markets.

Based in Framingham, Mass., IDC is the research and consulting arm of International Data Group (IDG), the world's largest publisher of computer-related information and the leading global provider of information services on information technology.

CONTACT: International Data Corp.

Dara Queen, 508/935-4585 or

Joan-Carol Brigham, 303/668-3199