6 Million Copies of Lion Purchased via Mac App Store - MacRumors
Skip to Content

6 Million Copies of Lion Purchased via Mac App Store

by

1102lion missioncontrol
During his keynote address to announce the next generation iPhone, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company has sold more than 6 million copies of Lion since it launched in July. "This is 80% more than Snow Leopard."

"For another metric, we measure adoption. If you look at Windows 7, it took them about 20 weeks to reach 10% of their base. It took Lion 2 weeks."

Lion is available for $29.99 at the Mac App Store.

Top Rated Comments

191 months ago
You can spin stats anyway you want to meet your needs, that is the downside of stats....but the real news here imho is that 6 million copies of a new OS coming in at 4 plus gigs were DOWNLOADED and installed. That is also not the install base, think of people like me that downloaded it and installed it on two machines but only counts as one sale.

Impressive.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
191 months ago
So even in their comparison, they're admitting that more people bought Windows 7, at a faster rate than Lion.

First, I'll try to make you very happy. Here we go: Apple sells only about five percent of all computers. Only one in twenty computers sold is a Mac. And Apple sells only about five percent of all phones. Only one in twenty phones sold is an iPhone. Does that make you feel good?

And now I'll take it all away: Apple makes more money selling computers than all the other manufacturers together. And Apple makes more money selling phones than all the other manufacturers together. I hope that makes you feel really bad.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
191 months ago
So even in their comparison, they're admitting that more people bought Windows 7, at a faster rate than Lion.
Score: 0 Votes (Like | Disagree)
191 months ago
Plus, if you figure that all new Macs sold after July 20th shipped with Lion, that means that about 8-10 million sales of Lion after 3 months, which is a pretty impressive uptake rate.
Score: 0 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacSince1990 Avatar
191 months ago
*waves care flag*
Score: 0 Votes (Like | Disagree)
191 months ago
10% of base is easier with Mac's

Windows has a MUCH larger installed base than Mac, and more of that base is in business operations. Getting 10% of that large a base, especially in businesses that must vet the updates for stability, security, compatibility with exist apps, etc. is significantly more difficult. I'm actually surprised that it took only 20 weeks to hit 10% of the XP / Vista base.

Windows 7, in my experience, is a major improvement in usability, stability, and security over any prior Windows OS.

So, that "bragging" right by the Apple crew is a bit specious.

Eddie O

PS: I'm a certified Mac FanBoy (tm) since Lisa in the 80's.
Score: -1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...