When you're at the bottom of the heap, there's no place to go but up. According to IDC, Apple's marketshare of the personal computer market rose for the first time in over a year last quarter, up to 4% from 3.4% the previous quarter. IDC attributes the gain to strong sales of Macintosh G3 computers, which have also helped Apple achieve two consecutive profitable quarters in a row. The most compelling sign for Apple is that the first quarter has historically been a weak one for the company, so the gain is all the more impressive. On the other hand, almost all Apple Computer sales are upgrades to existing customers, so the figures are somewhat deceptive.
Apple itself has noted the problems it has finding new customers. In a January filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple stated that its worldwide marketshare had slipped from 6.6% the year before to 4.3%. At the same time, Apple was knocked out of the top five PC sellers list as well
