I believe the future is changing, and Apple is surely on the rise. As mentioned exposure is one way to advertise, something Apple did not have much of in the early years. I remember purchasing (parents) my first Apple's at Montgomery Wards, or Sears. Shortly after the cheap PCs came in, and the Apple display of products got moved to the back, and further back in the store. The nearest Apple retail store for me growing up was in Syracuse. Even at that, the store sold both PC & Macs. The Apple section, had one salesman, and only a small portion of the display floor was provided.
When major stores like Sears, stop carrying Apple, there was little exposure left. Only repeat customers like myself would purchase a product they could not actually see.
In my opinion, the Apple stores have given Apple some great exposure. People can actually walk in and play-around with the products. That is important when trying to sell.
I am not sure how I feel about market-share percentage. Personally, as long as they continue to make quality products, I will continue to purchase. As we have seen lately, Apple's pricing is certainly competitive.
I feel that Apple needs to start targeting the young professional consumer. Many people get the image from Apple of a youth culture icon, and don't take there products seriously. As a professional in the education field, I can share that during meetings, people bring there ThinkPads, or Dells. I sit, at the other end of the table, with my PB flashing its Apple logo on the back of the display. Occasionally, I get a curious colleague looking over my shoulder to see exactly what it is I have. In the end, most don't take it that serious, and consider me the rebel on the team. Just a few years back, Apple was a leader in educational computing.
The future looks bright for Apple.