U.S. PC Shipments Continue to Slide in 2Q13 as Apple Lags Overall Market

MacRumors · Jul 10, 2013

Research firm Gartner today released its preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the second quarter of 2013, finding that worldwide shipments fell by 11% over the year-ago quarter, the fifth straight quarter of year-over-year declines. According to Gartner's numbers, the U.S. market held up significantly better than the global market, but still declined by 1.4%. Gartner continues to attribute the declines in the PC market to strong growth in tablets.

"We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC. This is also accounting for the collapse of the mini notebook market."

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Gartner's number show Apple underperforming the overall industry in the United States, with the Mac maker posting a 4.3% decline in shipments compared to the 1.4% decline in the overall market. Apple was able to hold on to its third-place ranking in the U.S. market behind HP and Dell, although fourth-place Lenovo is closing quickly on Apple, driven by nearly 20% year-over-year growth in the U.S.

Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-2Q13 (Gartner)

Apple does not rank on Gartner's list of top five vendors on a worldwide basis, with Asus holding down the bottom spot at 6.0% of the market. All of the top five worldwide vendors saw year-over-year shipment declines, although Lenovo's minimal 0.6% drop allowed it to take the worldwide crown from HP, which experienced a 4.8% decline.

Article Link: U.S. PC Shipments Continue to Slide in 2Q13 as Apple Lags Overall Market

mikeo007 · Jul 10, 2013

Not surprised...no new releases in the core notebook lineup yet from Apple. Those peaks on the chart all appear around the usual MacBook update timeframe (Spring/early summer) I think. With no new releases this year apart from the air, it's not really surprising that their YOY shipments have dropped.

Nightarchaon · Jul 10, 2013

Apple needs to add back the option to Upgrade/Replace components . Like Ram and the HDD/SDD back to its lines , thats the reason ill be going back to a PC for my new desktop at the end of the year,

And the iPad has removed the need for me to use a laptop at all

Menneisyys2 · Jul 10, 2013

Nightarchaon said:
Apple needs to add back the option to Upgrade/Replace components . Like Ram and the HDD/SDD back to its lines , thats the reason ill be going back to a PC for my new desktop at the end of the year,

And the iPad has removed the need for me to use a laptop at all

Definitely. And bring back the 17" MBP with 4k screen.

APlotdevice · Jul 10, 2013

Nightarchaon said:
Apple needs to add back the option to Upgrade/Replace components . Like Ram and the HDD/SDD back to its lines , thats the reason ill be going back to a PC for my new desktop at the end of the year,

Whether or not users can upgrade these things themselves isn't going to have much of an effect on sales. The simple fact is that most consumers never do either.

Four oF NINE · Jul 10, 2013

It doesn't make any sense that Apple would be lagging the overall market for these products!

thecurryman · Jul 10, 2013

Apple's computers, especially the retina macbook pros are build with such good quality that consumers dont need to upgrade every other year, but rather every 3-5 years. Makes sense

tevion5 · Jul 10, 2013

Dooooooooooooooommmmmmmed!!!

longofest · Jul 10, 2013

APlotdevice said:
Whether or not users can upgrade these things themselves isn't going to have much of an effect on sales. The simple fact is that most consumers never do either.

But many consumers ask "tech" people for advice before they do, and a decent number of technical people have really been turned off by the non-upgradability of the machines. I'd only recommend someone get a spec'd out machine from Apple or get one that is still upgradeable, and both of those options have the highest price premiums of the line.

Compare that to Lenovo which has some of the cheapest options out there and are pretty well considered by many in tech circles, and it can be a tougher sell nowadays.

devinher · Jul 10, 2013

Why is Lenovo surging?

I must really live in a bubble. The number of Apple laptops I see around me on a daily basis makes them seem dominant. Maybe my shareholder eyes are just really good at picking them out of a crowd.

cmChimera · Jul 10, 2013

tevion5 said:
Dooooooooooooooommmmmmmed!!!

For reference.

SeenJeen · Jul 10, 2013

Hardly a shocker...

Most people use the internet for facebook or reading, videos (RE: consuming content)... why would they buy a $1,000 MacBook Air when they can get an iPad Mini for $300?

And it's not like an update to their Mac line will see a huge surge in sales.

This is why Apple needs to stop screwing with their Prosumers.

Koulie · Jul 10, 2013

Very predictable research in regards to PC decline, Tablet uprise and underperforming Mac sales for the 2nd Quarter.
What interests me is how the number was only at a 1.4% decline this quarter as opposed to the significant 11.2% the previous quarter.

Anyhow, refreshed Macbooks Airs will surely change the landscape around for Quarter 3. I just wonder if Apple will look to release the new Pros later this quarter (or beginning of quarter 4) to spread quarterly shipments sales more evenly.

Nightarchaon · Jul 10, 2013

thecurryman said:
Apple's computers, especially the retina macbook pros are build with such good quality that consumers dont need to upgrade every other year, but rather every 3-5 years. Makes sense

Ahahahahahahahahah-

Ahahahahahahahahahah----

ive yet to hear of an apple product since ooo at least 2006 onwards that hasn't had issues from launch... Screen ghosting on the RMPs for example... (rest of list is Time Capsules 1st gen failing PSUs, Yellowing Screens on i-Devices, GPU failures in MBPs, Screens sucking in dust on iMacs, antenna gate, case cracking on iphone 3 and 3gs, ongoing issues with WiFi every generation , iPhone 5 "chipping of paint", lots of HDD issues)

Never ever buy 1 1st gen apple refresh, they use 1st gen purchasers as beta testers because their quality control and product testing SUCKS due to the attempt at product launch "secrecy"

Id like to see them release a product, which , from day one, lasts 18months without a trip back to apple for a fix

Love the products after they get it right for the Rev 2 boards

Razeus · Jul 10, 2013

Perhaps Apple should stop trying to charge me an extra $300 for 256GB SSD, bring my 21.5 iMac from $1500 to $1800. YOU DIDN'T DISCOUNT THE FACT THERE'S NO HARD DRIVE IN THE CUSTOM BUILD APPLE! If it's $1500 WITH a hard drive, why isn't it a bit cheaper without the hard drive, BUT with the added fee of the SSD?

theOtherGeoff · Jul 10, 2013

Four oF NINE said:
It doesn't make any sense that Apple would be lagging the overall market for these products!

yes it does

1) last year Apple was least affected from the market downturn compared to the prior year, so by virtue of having higher numbers last year, relatively speaking this year will look worse.

2) Apple products didn't have the Windows 8 Affect (requiring an upgrade for the new OS, because... it's just easier than trying to upgrade in place for most mere mortals). Mountain Lion came out... and people installed it on their current device. No HW sales bump.

3) Apple PCs last longer due to build quality and the quality of OS integration. PCs, especially the <1000 laptop, are built to be obsolete in 18 months.

4) Corporate PC purchases have been on hold for 2 years waiting for Win8.... And once seeing Win8, they are now installing Win7;-), and replacing old hardware in the process.

Lots of reasons for the lag relative to the market. But my guess is that sales wise, Apple is actually doing fine.

Kid Vorpal · Jul 10, 2013

I may be in the minority here, but I've held off on an upgrade because I am waiting to see what kind of prices Apple is going to expect for the new Mac Pro. I can't imagine I'm the only one though, and that has to be eating into their sales at least a little.

ValSalva · Jul 10, 2013

These numbers must have to do with no new computer products in such a long time. But these are only numbers. Analysis will be interesting.

John.B · Jul 10, 2013

This has nothing to do with people delaying purchases until the new Haswell-equipped models drop?

ArchAndroid · Jul 10, 2013

Four oF NINE said:
It doesn't make any sense that Apple would be lagging the overall market for these products!

Sure it does. Where is the entry level product for the Mac laptop line? $1000 for an 11.6" inch laptop isn't going to cut it. Apple needs to bring back the MacBook to address the entry level tier which they are currently not in.

tbrand7 · Jul 10, 2013

Apple doesn't sell the most computers. They make the best computers though. Period. The best things in life aren't cheap.

thekev · Jul 10, 2013

longofest said:
But many consumers ask "tech" people for advice before they do, and a decent number of technical people have really been turned off by the non-upgradability of the machines. I'd only recommend someone get a spec'd out machine from Apple or get one that is still upgradeable, and both of those options have the highest price premiums of the line.

Compare that to Lenovo which has some of the cheapest options out there and are pretty well considered by many in tech circles, and it can be a tougher sell nowadays.

If I switched to using Windows all the time, I would buy a Lenovo.

pr5owner · Jul 10, 2013

since apple no longer allows upgrades of their machines and the parts they use inside are more or less bottom of the barrel (cheap ram, slow ssds, nics that dont support jumbo frames, some laptops dont even have lan anymore which is useless for large file transfers, no wifi AC until just now)

i got a lenovo y580 instead, for half the price of the retina macbook ($1279) i got the following

Intel i7 3630
15.6" 1920x1080 with 97% color gamut
16GB Corsair vengeance (upgraded)
512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD (one of the fastest ssds you can buy)
256GB Samsung mSATA (for OS)
Bluray burner (optional HDD bracket option for tripple SSDs)
nVidia GTX660M 2GB ram
Intel 6205 2x2 AGN (but this laptop allows me to upgrade to any wifi card i want, so once intel comes out with an AC card i can just upgrade it for not much more than $20, i dont have to buy a whole new laptop)

i just dont see the point of buying something twice the price with half the speed and half the connectivity.

----------

tbrand7 said:
Apple doesn't sell the most computers. They make the best computers though. Period. The best things in life aren't cheap.

thats strange, they dont make computers at all, Hon hai makes all the computers, the same company that makes HP's computers (more of their business line than consumer).

slffl · Jul 10, 2013

It blows my mind that people are still buying a Dell or HP over Apple.

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thecurryman said:
Apple's computers, especially the retina macbook pros are build with such good quality that consumers dont need to upgrade every other year, but rather every 3-5 years. Makes sense

Exactly. I'm STILL running just fine on my 6 year old iMac, which will also be able to run Mavericks when it's released. Their products are just too good. Bad for Apple as a company, good for consumers.

tech4all · Jul 10, 2013

Nightarchaon said:
Apple needs to add back the option to Upgrade/Replace components . Like Ram and the HDD/SDD back to its lines , thats the reason ill be going back to a PC for my new desktop at the end of the year,

And the iPad has removed the need for me to use a laptop at all

If you use(d) your laptop just for web browsing yea. Anything else forget it. Laptops are still king for just about everything else.

tbrand7 said:
Apple doesn't sell the most computers. They make the best computers though. Period. The best things in life aren't cheap.

How about gaming? Macs aren't the best option. It's naive to think otherwise.

U.S. PC Shipments Continue to Slide in 2Q13 as Apple Lags Overall Market

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