Microsoft says Windows PCs competing more strongly in premium market led by Apple

Announcing a 5% increase in revenue from Windows licenses to third-party manufacturers, Microsoft’s CFO Amy Hood said that PCs were succeeding in encroaching on the premium end of the market traditionally dominated by Apple …

Our partner ecosystem continued to see growth and share gains in the Windows premium device category. 

As Business Insider notes, Microsoft defines ‘premium devices’ as computers costing $900+, which is significantly above the mainstream consumer market for Windows laptops but is a starting point below the entry-level for Macs.

It’s notable that the company didn’t put any specific figures on either sales growth or gain in market share, but the claim tallies with Apple’s own numbers showing the first year-on-year sales decline in Macs since 2001. A recent analyst report noted that Apple has now dropped to #5 in computer sales, having been overtaken by ASUS.

However, it should also be noted that Microsoft was talking about third-party PCs. Despite an earlier claim that more Mac users were switching to its own Surface range than ever before, the company has not posted any numbers to back this.

As for Macs themselves, a recent reader poll showed that despite Apple’s increasing focus on laptops over desktops, preferences are pretty evenly split between the two form-factors.