Comment by close04 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by close04 | Hacker News Reader

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> but the market is much smaller

How do you figure that? Statistics just say Linux has just over 2% market share in Europe [0], ~1.74% in the US [1], and ~1.5% in North America. Apple has a 30% higher market share in NA than in Europe. ChromeOS has a ~5 times higher market share in NA. This goes out of everyone else's market share.

The EU alone is ~450 million citizens, ~30% higher than the US. Europe has ~750 million citizens, ~50% more than North America.

Any reason to suspect that despite the higher population and the higher market share within that, there are still substantially fewer Linux users in Europe? And if so, what are the actual numbers of end users for each? You'd have to assume the "desktop market" is more than 3 times lower in Europe vs. NA to conclude that there are fewer Linux user in Europe.

[0] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/europe

[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/united-st...

[2] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/north-ame...

Linux users does not equal people able/willing to order overpriced high-end laptops. Most of the EU is significantly more poor than the US, and you have to consider spending power when thinking about market size.

To quote a previous comment on this topic in a recent thread, though with a country not presently in the EU (but still the country with the second-highest GDP in Europe):

One example: The UK is a reasonably wealthy country. Median household income in the UK is 29,400 GBP (36,000 USD). The poorest state in the US (Mississippi) has a median household income around 43,000 USD

You brought up population, GDP, average income, etc. None of these explicitly support your claim, half of them actually work against it.

I gave you actual numbers for Linux usage and they do not support your assertion. I would have appreciated the same from you given that you are absolutely sure.

I don't get what's so hard to understand about his point. There are more people and more Linux users in Europe, but each of those people has (way) less disposable income (money left over to spend on luxury goods) than Americans.

Thus, it makes financial sense to sell to Americans first and foremost, as opposed to the more numerous Europeans.

Meadian household income isn't great for this. I know here that I don't have to pay for healthcare or schooling and I'm sure many other things in America that are deducted after income.

I responded to this elsewhere in the thread to avoid having to make a dozen comments:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22971567

It's not about being poor. If I already have two desktops and a laptop, why should I buy another laptop every year?

Just compare European washing machines vs USA washing machines: European models use less water and clean better because of the hot water, USA models waste water, are noisy, and finish much faster.

Or oversized gas guzzling SUVs vs European cars.

It's about not being wasteful.

Do you think that household income is a reasonable measure for disposable income? Fixed costs for a person or household tend to vary a lot based on the country/state.

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