"Today, the states... Tomorrow, the world!" While we don't actually have any proof that Apple's plans for the iMac include a virus-like attempt at complete world domination, the sales figures would seem to speak for themselves. We've all heard time and time again that the iMac was the number one selling computer in the United States over the holiday sales quarter, but it appears that the demand for cute, round computers has infected markets from other lands as well. Like some kind of alien microorganism, the iMac appears to be multiplying and taking over several countries at once. For instance, consider what a MacCentral reader has to say about the iMac's influence in Japan...

Japan's always been a Mac-friendly market, but the popularity of the iMac among Japanese computer buyers is, shall we say, "disproportionately high." (More accurately, though, we could also say that the iMac is kicking serious patootie in the Land of the Rising Sun.) Apparently since its introduction at the end of last August, the iMac's slice of the Japanese retail market share pie has never fallen below 10%, making it the most popular personal computer for twenty-one straight weeks. More impressively, though, iMac sales have been rising, not falling; when the rev. B's hit the streets and Apple unveiled the "Smart Loan" program (the Japanese equivalent of Apple's "Three Pizzas" consumer loan), the iMac's share jumped up to about 20% in early December. And when Apple Japan cut the price of the iMac by 50,000¥ a couple of weeks ago, that share rose even higher-- first to 25%, and then to nearly 29% for the week of January 11th through the 18th. Not only does that percentage put the iMac squarely in the number one sales slot, but it also absolutely buries the runner-up-- a NEC laptop which captured less than 6% of the market. Zowie...

And Japan's not the only other country where the iMac is going great guns. Take France, for instance-- it's not exactly a country terribly well-known for being a Mac haven (though we've never heard it described as particularly Mac-hostile, either). According to a MacWEEK article, it sounds like the iMac is echoing its U.S. success over in the French computer market: research firm GfK reports that the iMac was the best-selling computer in France in the September-to-November quarter. In addition, major French computer retailers are reporting record sales for everyone's favorite candy-coated consumer machine. Now that the iMac has spread its popularity across countries representing three separate continents, can global domination be far off?