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U.S. Mac Sales Fall in Winter Quarter, Global PC Market Sees Continued Sales Falloff

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple saw a year-over-year drop of 3.8% in U.S. market share according to a report released today by Gartner, with Dell and Lenovo capturing significant growth at the expense of the rest of the market. The U.S. PC market saw a small increase in total units shipped, while internationally the PC market contracted by 1.7 percent.
In the U.S. market, PC shipments totaled 14.1 million units in the first quarter of 2014, a 2.1 percent increase from the same period last year (see Table 2). HP maintained the No. 1 position, as it accounted for 25 percent of PC shipments in the U.S. market. Dell and Lenovo experienced the strongest growth among the top five vendors, with growth rates of 13.2 and 16.8 percent.

"In terms of the major structural shift of the PC market, the U.S. market is ahead of other regions," Ms. Kitagawa said. "The installed base of PCs started declining in 2013, while the worldwide installed base still grew. The U.S. PC market has been highly saturated with devices: 99 percent of households own at least one or more desktops or laptops, and more than half of them own both. While tablet penetration is expected to reach 50 percent in 2014, some consumer spending could return to PCs."
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gartner_1Q14_us.jpg
The overall international PC market fared worse than the U.S., a reversal of last quarter as tablets continue to eat into PC sales. Internationally, Lenovo, Dell, Asus and HP all saw solid market share growth at the expense of Acer and the rest of the market. Gartner considers PCs to include desktop and notebooks, including x86 tablets equipped with Windows 8, but excluding Chromebooks and other tablets like the iPad.

gartner_1Q14_us_trend.jpg
The data is preliminary, meaning Gartner can revise its numbers based on market conditions. Last year the firm revised its preliminary Apple numbers by more than two share points because the newly introduced iMac was in extremely short supply.

Separately, IDC reported similar overall trends, with Apple seeing its U.S. PC market share dropping to 10.3%, down from 11% last year. Globally, the firm saw the PC market shrink by 4.4 percent.

Apple has not updated any of its Mac products since early last fall.

Article Link: U.S. Mac Sales Fall in Winter Quarter, Global PC Market Sees Continued Sales Falloff
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/04/09/gartner-1q14-pc-market/
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brendu

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Apr 23, 2009
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I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.

My 5 year old MacBook Pro and my wife's 5 year old MacBook work great still and I don't foresee needing a new computer any time soon. That's why companies like apple are looking for something new to sell. Macs aren't going away, people will just keep them longer.
 
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cdmoore74

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Jun 24, 2010
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I guess that always out of stock $3000 plus trashcan is not helping the situation.
 
69650

69650

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brendu said:
I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.

My 5 year old MacBook Pro and my wife's 5 year old MacBook work great still and I don't foresee needing a new computer any time soon. That's why companies like apple are looking for something new to sell. Macs aren't going away, people will just keep them longer.
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If they changed the Mac design more often they would sell more. There's a good reason they update the iPhone design every other year.

PC design has moved on a lot in the past few years with really nice all-in-one PC's and stylish laptops all over the place.
 
Toltepeceno

Toltepeceno

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Jul 17, 2012
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brendu said:
I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.
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I think you are right. I'm saving for a mac, but I am still using a 5 year old pc laptop and have no problem doing what I need to do. The upgrade cycle is not as quick as it used to be.

Maybe Apple should realize that people want upgradable storage and RAM...
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I think there is some truth to this. I want a mac mini after the new one comes out if it's still upgradable on storage and memory.
 
KdParker

KdParker

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Oct 1, 2010
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brendu said:
I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.

My 5 year old MacBook Pro and my wife's 5 year old MacBook work great still and I don't foresee needing a new computer any time soon. That's why companies like apple are looking for something new to sell. Macs aren't going away, people will just keep them longer.
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That is spot on. I have a 2010 mbp that is still going strong, that I gave it too my kids to use their laptop when I upgraded.
 
Reason077

Reason077

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Aug 14, 2007
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It is said that if a flock of California Quails should ever leave their nesting site on the grounds of 1 Infinite Loop, the empire shall fall.
 
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petsounds

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Jun 30, 2007
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brendu said:
I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.

My 5 year old MacBook Pro and my wife's 5 year old MacBook work great still and I don't foresee needing a new computer any time soon. That's why companies like apple are looking for something new to sell. Macs aren't going away, people will just keep them longer.
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I disagree. It's not that old PCs are "powerful enough", it's that PC chips aren't increasing fast enough, due to a complex set of conditions including Intel's position of power, performance advancements decreasing due to limitations with current chip design, and desire for more battery-efficient chips.

This lack of speed increase results in holding back new software technologies that would depend on a new level of performance. And without new must-have software that you need a new machine to run, we've entered a performance plateau where people only upgrade when they have to. This is not a good place for the industry to be in, and it ultimately holds back society from advancing technologically, tablet computing aside.
 
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bzero

macrumors member
Apr 1, 2014
42
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Blame the dip on Mavericks? :mad: Come on, I want to see more Mac market share.

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brendu said:
I think the bigger reason for this is that computers from 5 years ago are still powerful enough today. It's not like the windows xp days where every 2 years you needed a new computer because yours was so flooded with spyware the hardware couldn't handle it and crapped out.

My 5 year old MacBook Pro and my wife's 5 year old MacBook work great still and I don't foresee needing a new computer any time soon. That's why companies like apple are looking for something new to sell. Macs aren't going away, people will just keep them longer.
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That's my guess too. I just don't see any reason for anyone to replace a PC with a tablet. Also no reason to buy a new PC when that 2009 MacBook Pro still runs great! And I think 2009 was somehow the best year for MacBook Pros.
 
AHDuke99

AHDuke99

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2002
2,288
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Charleston, SC
Computer technology isn't increasing at the rate it did years ago. My 3 year old Macbook Pro is more than fast enough to use. I used to upgrade every 2 years because machines basically doubled in speed in that timeframe, but not anymore.

Plus, Apple doesn't upgrade their mac line at near the rate they once did.
 
ValSalva

ValSalva

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Jun 26, 2009
3,783
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Burpelson AFB
If Dell and HP have increased market share its clear that those purchasing decisions are almost entirely based on price. Low margin junk with a horrible OS.

There is no question Apple still caters to the well heeled. The quality of the rMBP's is amazing. But they are expensive.

I also wonder if Apple is doing much if any Mac marketing. Maybe I've missed it or haven't noticed it. But I see Dell and HP advertising frequently.
 
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thewordiz

macrumors member
Nov 8, 2010
45
0
don't think so

thejadedmonkey said:
Maybe Apple should realize that people want upgradable storage and RAM...
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Doubtful, for the majority of buyers probably less than 5% upgrade a laptop. But hey, I see you got your bragging rights for your "customized" Windows 8 desktop. I would agree with you on that. A customizable desktop unit.

I believe, what people want by and large in these economically challenged times is a fully loaded fairly inexpensive machine "like most of the POS plastic made Wintel devices" break down the machines from HP, Lenovo, Dell and the others and the growth market is in sub $1000 i3 and i5 based machines. Take comparably priced machines and I bet you will find that Apple held their own, if not excelled. Like really, who would spend $1500-2500 on a "windows" based laptop? And frankly, no other manufacturer has cold turkey stopped using mechanical hard drives, and committed to SSD, which of course jacks the price. Although pushes the performance envelope.

I think Apple should keep the legacy based 13" MBP "$1199" and drop the price for everyone to educational pricing of $999, and actually kept the "old" White & Black plastic MB and offered them at $799 and they would have picked up real market share.

Of course, they usually don't consult on people like me to listen to any people like us. But I think they should.
 
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iolinux333

macrumors 68000
Feb 9, 2014
1,798
73
I have a 2011 MBA. If I bought a 2014 MBA now my personal experience would be identical. I've been waiting for 3 years for a rMBA. I suspect when it is released they will sell zillions of them.
 
Nunyabinez

Nunyabinez

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2010
1,758
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Provo, UT
This is not really surprising seeing that they are overdue on updates for most products. I'm actually surprised that people keep buying knowing that new models must be coming soon.

I have many times delayed a purchase because I know I would be pissed to buy a machine and a week later have a better machine available for the same price.

This dip is the result of no product announcements yet this year. Nothing complicated about it.
 
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AdonisSMU

macrumors 604
Oct 23, 2010
7,298
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iolinux333 said:
I have a 2011 MBA. If I bought a 2014 MBA now my personal experience would be identical. I've been waiting for 3 years for a rMBA. I suspect when it is released they will sell zillions of them.
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I am in the market for a new computer. At the moment, I am waiting to see what the new rMBPs and rMBA looks like before I purchase again. MACs last longer. Of course once people started buying them more they were eventually not going to need to buy a new computer every year.
 
K

kaldezar

macrumors regular
May 28, 2008
120
6
London, England
dumastudetto said:
Nope. Consumers love what Apple is doing to cut down on bulk. And they prefer to get their RAM from Apple anyway because they know it's the highest quality and covered by the fanatical AppleCare warranty program.
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Well you can buy the same if not better RAM from Crucial and many other reputable suppliers and still be covered by Applecare without having to pay Apples's rip off RAM pricing!
 
K

kobalap

macrumors 6502
Nov 30, 2009
369
2,519
cdmoore74 said:
I guess that always out of stock $3000 plus trashcan is not helping the situation.
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Yeah, Tim Cook should get right on that.

They probably lost a whopping 17 units worth of sales because of lack of availability.
 
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