"Online sales of laptops from the summer of 2016 reached $2.2 billion and grew 12 percent year over year. Diving into this category, 1010data uncovered how consumer purchases impacted the biggest players in the laptop space online from June – August 2016."

"Apple preserved its spot as the number one laptop brand based on sales this summer despite a 7‑point loss in market share year over year. Dell also held its spot at number two, but ASUS took the third spot after growing 4 share points since last summer," Julia Millot wrote. "Hewlett Packard and Acer also grew, resulting in higher placements amongst the top laptop brands this year. While Apple and Dell combined account for 60 percent of online laptop sales, it’s worth noting how other players in this space have grown over time and how that impacted the bigger brands’ market share."

The AudienceSCAN survey found 20.3% of U.S. adults intend to buy laptops or desktop computers in the next 12 months. Laptop retailers should highlight these top-​selling brands in advertising campaigns.

"Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Apple is the number one retailer of laptops online in addition to being the number one brand. Although most of Apple laptop sales happen through Apple’s own website, about 20 percent are purchased from other online retailers, such as Best Buy and Amazon. In fact, Amazon Direct and Amazon Marketplace’s combined share of sales doubled year over year, and matched Apple’s share of sales. Electronics e‑retailer, Newegg, also experienced a decline in share, signifying the importance of Amazon’s growth as a retailer in the biggest sales producing category online."

"When ranked by product views, Dell just edged out Apple for the top spot this year. Dell actually outranks Apple when comparing units sold, but due to Apple’s premium price for the Mac line, total sales are higher. In fact, Dell’s lower price points give them an advantage in converting product views into purchases at a better rate than Apple. Additionally, brands like Hewlett Packard and ASUS, which have lower price points like Dell, improved their ability to convert views into purchases."

Computer shops should invest in TV spots featuring these laptops because AudienceSCAN data reports 41.4% of Computer Shoppers took action after watching television commercials in the past month.

Summary

"Apple’s sales figures still reign supreme in the laptop online category, as both a retailer and a brand, but the competition is doing everything it can to reverse that trend. Dell actually sold more laptops online during back to school season than Apple did, but Apple’s MacBooks, which cost over $1000, are still the most popular laptops sold online. Additionally, as Amazon grows in size, its threat to retailers in every category increases. If this growth trend continues, Amazon could eventually displace Apple and Dell as the top online seller of laptops."

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.