Why our market share is higher in Europe


I’m often asked why our market share in Europe is always a few ticks higher than in the United States. It’s something we’ve been aware of for some time now and to be honest we take it as a compliment. Mostly it just reflects the higher standards that Europeans bring to everything they do. They’re more demanding and, let’s face it, more sophisticated than Americans. For that reason we’ve always staffed our design teams with mostly Europeans. I think that has really informed our sensibility and it also explains why our products appeal to Europeans. Europeans place a higher value on great design than Americans do, they’re more willing to pay high prices as long as they’re getting a quality product. But you can’t fool Europeans. They’re way too savvy. They can spot a fake a mile away and they will not fall for it. And they will not hesitate to correct you or tell you you’re wrong when you’ve made a mistake. We value that criticism and feel that it drives us to do better. So thank you, Europeans, for supporting Apple. You’re going to love our next-gen iMacs, trust me. They were designed with you guys in mind.

UPDATE: I’ve just been informed that our market share in Europe is actually lower than in the United States. So, um, disregard the above comments.