For PC Makers, Green Is a Key Element

Green is good. Green is healthy. Being green is environmentally rewarding.

But saving green, as PC buyers know, is also always a welcome thing.

And in a hurting PC market that has vendors slashing prices and boosting features to retain market share the issue of green can be pivotal.

It's just too bad that Dell appears focused on the wrong "shade" of green these days.

Dell recently complained to a national advertising organization that Apple overstepped in marketing its MacBook Pro family line of notebooks as "the world's greenest" family of notebooks.

Apple's entire MacBook line meets the stringent Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) ratings, as a Tonic story outlined here yesterday.

Dell, however, feels Apple overstepped in its claims, and asked the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business to investigate.

NAD did just that and yesterday released a statement recommending Apple "modify" its MacBook advertising to clarify the basis for its comparative advertising claim. But just as importantly, it noted that Apple has simply chosen to make its entire laptop portfolio as green as possible — a published statement Dell likely wasn't hoping to hear.

Here's an excerpt from NAD's statement:

Following its review .... NAD determined that EPEAT is a recognized industrymethodology to identify the 'green' characteristics of a computer product. NAD noted that the advertiser has specifically undertaken to design all of its MacBooks to reduce their negative environmental impact, as reflected in EPEAT ratings, and that it should be free to communicate that information to consumers.

What is unique to this advertiser [Apple] is that it has elected to only produce computer notebooks that meet the highest EPEAT ratings. While other manufacturers may have subcategories of lines with similar ratings, none has comparable high ratings for all of the notebooks it produces.

But NAD did note that the claim “world’s greenest family of notebooks” has potential for overstatement.

Hmm, OK, that last bit is a little ironic, considering that we are talking advertising. But I digress.

In its report, NAD noted that Toshiba Portage notebooks have a higher ["greener"] EPEAT ratingthan MacBooks, but then again not all Toshiba laptops are EPEAT certified. And while Toshiba and some other vendors may have more products on the EPEAT list, they also have a much bigger and deeper laptop product line than Apple.

Fairness in advertising is critical, but there's no denying that Apple's MacBook — its entire line — is pretty damn green.

The real story, and one some national press reports failed to note, is why Dell called Apple out on the green issue to begin with. Could it be that the former top PC maker is freaking a bit as Apple cut prices on its MacBook line in its redesign this month?

According to Gartner research, an IT research firm, worldwide PC shipments totaled 67.2 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 6.5 percent decline versus the first quarter of 2008.

In the United States market, PC shipments were 15.3 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 0.3 percent decline versus the first quarter in 2008. Gartner found that shipments were stronger than expected thanks to strong growth in low-priced mobile PCs.

Hewlett-Packard leads as the worldwide PC market leader, accounting for 19.8 percent of global shipments in first quarter 2009. Dell, which last year had a solid hold on second place, is now in a virtual tie with Acer; separated by just 0.1 percent points, according to Gartner.

The research report further found that Dell is falling further behind as it's relying heavily on its business channel. Acer, meanwhile, saw significant shipment increases fueled by low-priced mobile PCs both abroad and here in the United States.

So, obviously, there are two shades of "green" that consumers are interested in these days when it comes to laptops and desktops.

Apple, for its part, sees that and responded as its revamped MacBook portfolio continues to meet the highly stringent EPEAT ratings, provide advanced features in battery life and display technology even as it cut some prices by $300.

Following the NAD ruling yesterday, Apple quickly jumped to the press podium, telling the New York Times the ruling was "a clear victory."

Dell, so far, has been mum. Its press section, as of this morning, did not provide any public response on the NAD statement.