Official: Mac users are richer and cleverer than PC users

Mac users are cleverer than PC users. They also make more money.

That's according to a survey from Nielsen/NetRatings, which found that 70.2 per cent of Mac owners have a university degree, compared to 54.2 per cent of web surfers as a whole.

The study also found that Mac users tend be more seasoned internet veterans than their PC counterparts, with more than half having been online for five years or more. They are also more likely to shop online and build their own websites.

While Mac sales represent around five per cent of the US computer market, 8.2 per cent of American web users surf the net on a Mac.

According to reports on US wires, the analyst house said the greater affluence of Mac users correlates to the company's more expensive computers and their added emphasis on leftfield design.

Their above average income and education also makes them more attractive to marketers.

Apple has recently launched a fresh marketing assault on PC users in an attempt to grow its relatively meagre global market share.

The 'Switch' ads feature former PC users evangelising the Mac platform and bemoaning years of procrastination.

Although Apple is a client of Nielsen/NetRatings, a spokesman for the analyst house said the research was not commissioned by Apple, nor was the computer maker made aware of the findings prior to its publication.

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