The NPD Group

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on The NPD Group:

Nearly 1 in 4 young adults in U.S. now own a smartwatch

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Apple
The Apple Watch is the 'clear market leader,' too.
Photo: Apple

Among the all-important 18-34 year old age demographic, almost one quarter of U.S. adults reportedly own a smartwatch. And the Apple Watch is likely to be the device they own.

According to The NPD Group, U.S. smartwatch unit sales increased 61 percent during the 12-month period concluding in November 2018. The amount of money raked in was also, unsurprisingly, up — by almost $5 billion.

Apple’s U.S. Mac Sales Expected To Drop 5% In September Quarter

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imac1

For the past two years it’s seemed that the Mac was invulnerable to the sudden drop in PC sales that have plagued other OEMs, but things aren’t looking too rosy for the Mac anymore either.

A new study from NPD Group found that Mac sales were flat year-over-year during July, and if things keep going at this rate, Apple’s domestic Mac sales will be down 5% year over year for the September quarter.

NPD: iTunes Leads The Race In Online Video On Demand [Report]

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Awhile back it was reported that the iTunes Store is one of the biggest media companies in the world. The iTunes Store generated $8.5 billion in revenue last year, which is more than many of America’s top media companies combined.

Apple has been the tech industry’s pioneer for abandoning physical media, and iTunes is a testament to the success of digital downloads. According to a new report from the NPD Group, iTunes dominates its competitors in terms of online video on demand.

Why Do Apple Customers Love The Genius Bar? It’s Free

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Apple-Genius-Bar
"I got this."

If you’ve owned an Apple device for any extended period of time — whether it’s a Mac or iOS device — you’ve most likely encountered the Genius Bar at the back of every Apple retail store, where friendly, fresh-faced youths in blue t-shirts diagnose your problems and quickly provide a fix. Apple is one of a small few companies that offers such a terrific service, and according to a recent study, 90% of its customers love it.

Almost Twice As Many People Watch TV On iPads And Other Tablets Worldwide

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The NPD Group reported today that the use of digital tablets like the iPad has more than doubled across the globe this year.

According to surveys of approximately 14,000 TV owners across 14 different regions worldwide, the research group found that a whopping 10 percent of those surveyed reported using their iPad or other tablet to watch video. This is up from about four percent of the same population surveyed a year ago.

Most Small Businesses to Adopt iPads in 2012 [Report]

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Photo by christinelu.china - http://flic.kr/p/7XtUwg
Photo by christinelu.china - http://flic.kr/p/7XtUwg

First came the consumer wave of tablet users, now it’s the turn of small business. Almost 75 percent of small businesses plan to mark 2012 with a tablet — odds on an iPad. “The iPad, just in the consumer market, is synonymous for ‘tablet’ in the business market,” new research finds.

The iPhone Is Killing Point-and-Shoot Cameras

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The quality evolution of iPhone photography.
The quality evolution of iPhone photography.

Remember how digital cameras did in film? That progression appears now to be in its second-generation as the iPhone and other smartphones seem destined to do away with the ubiquitous point-and-shoot digital camera. A new report finds phones take a third of all photos as phone-based photo quality dramatically increases.

NPD: iMacs, MacBook Pros top October retail sales

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It should be no surprise to anyone that the newest iMacs catapulted to the top of the sales charts when Apple released them in October. But just in case you have any bets going on the matter comes sweet analyst confirmation: Apple computers topped the list of the most popular machines sold at retail in October, according to the NPD Group. Gentlemen, collect your outstanding beers and pony rides.