Hm, I'd say the Apple brand awareness is very high (at least in my country), so for me they don't fail on the marketing department.

I think it's probably just a matter of price. At least that's what used to keep me away from Apple... Until I met the hardcore fanbase. Nowadays they are the ones that keep me away from Apple. Hmm... maybe it's marketing, after all :P

Anyway, it was also important that I couldn't run key apps (read: games) in a Mac and I could on a PC. And sure, I could run Windows on a Mac, but if I'm going to use Windows (or Linux, whatever), why can't I just go for a PC and save money for something else? :)