Research Firms Offer Conflicting Views of Apple's Second Quarter Mac Shipments

[MacRumors]

Research firms Gartner and IDC have both released preliminary reports details U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the second quarter of 2009, and the two firms offer conflicting pictures of Apple's performance during the quarter.

According to Gartner's report, Apple maintained its fourth place ranking for U.S. shipments with an 8.7% market share on unit growth of 2.5% over the year-ago quarter. Apple's market share was up significantly from the previous quarter's 7.4% share and up slightly from 8.4% in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year increase reverses a trend that saw a slight market share decline between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009.




Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-2Q09 (Gartner)
Overall, Gartner saw a 1.2% decrease in U.S. PC shipments over the year-ago quarter, handily beating the firm's expectation of a 12% decrease. A significant drop by market share leader Dell was offset by continuing tremendous growth from Acer, which has focused its efforts on the netbook and budget notebook segments.




Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q09 (Thousands of Units)
IDC's report paints a very different picture for Apple, showing the company dropping past Toshiba into fifth place in U.S. market share at 7.6% on unit sales decline of 12.4%. Overall, IDC saw a 3.0% decline in the U.S. market versus the first quarter of 2008.

While Gartner and IDC do typically differ somewhat in their quarterly shipment estimates, the two firms diverge rather significantly in their analyses of Apple's performance for the second quarter of 2009. The reasons for the difference are not yet known at this time, although we can expect to gain a much clearer picture of Apple's performance next week at the company's earnings release and conference call.

Article Link: Research Firms Offer Conflicting Views of Apple's Second Quarter Mac Shipments

[armoguy94]

I wonder when Linux will ever gain some attention? lol

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by armoguy94

I wonder when Linux will ever gain some attention? lol

Maybe once Chrome is out. After all, Chrome is just another Linux distro

[Sky Blue]

Originally Posted by armoguy94

I wonder when Linux will ever gain some attention? lol

It's hardware.

[sushi]

Originally Posted by Sky Blue

It's hardware.

True.

Like the growth run chart. Nice pattern for Apple.

[nick9191]

Originally Posted by armoguy94

I wonder when Linux will ever gain some attention? lol

It's hardware sales. Dell sell some Linux machines so Linux is in there somewhere.

[eksodos]

Originally Posted by nick9191

It's hardware sales. Dell sell some Linux machines so Linux is in there somewhere.

Almost none. They keep those machines well hidden on their websites. And they do nothing to market Linux desktops/laptops as an option.

[bishboria]

Considering Apple essentially called netbooks pieces of crap, Acer are doing tremendously well. Looks like they could in fact be bigger (US market share wise) than Apple next year.

[moonislune]

I just wonder if Apple is really comfortable with a 2.5% growth rate. Acer's numbers sound impressive, but I wonder what their 74.2% growth rate translates to in profit. I see another ad campaign and price drop coming from Apple.

[Hellhammer]

Go Apple go! Apple's sales are growing all the time, but that's not a news, OS X is awesome

[BTW]

IDC was bought-off by Microsoft I'm sure to put FUD out there on Apple.

[vant]

Apple is sitting are far more comfortable profit margins than the rest.

Selling one laptop for Apple would probably be equivalent to selling 3 Acers.

[DoFoT9]

nice growth by apple, but Acer having a 70% increase?? that SHOULDNT be allowed!! i cant believe people actually buy their crap.

[Eidorian]

Apple typically fights it out for 4/5th place so it's not that surprising.

Acer is shining with their netbooks and budget notebooks. Pennies in profits but the growth is ridiculous. Personally I'm partial to HP or Dell's model. The EEEEEE PC has a place in my meme space.

[mags631]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

Acer is shining with their netbooks and budget notebooks. Pennies in profits but the growth is ridiculous. Personally I'm partial to HP or Dell's model. The EEEEEE PC has a place in my meme space.

Did Acer turn a profit last quarter? I believe last year they were losing money.

[DoFoT9]

Originally Posted by mags631

Did Acer turn a profit last quarter? I believe last year they were losing money.

id like to see a year or so into the future after Apple brings out their new tablet. would be interesting.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by mags631

Did Acer turn a profit last quarter? I believe last year they were losing money.

Plenty of losses all around.

[HiRez]

Originally Posted by moonislune

I just wonder if Apple is really comfortable with a 2.5% growth rate. Acer's numbers sound impressive, but I wonder what their 74.2% growth rate translates to in profit. I see another ad campaign and price drop coming from Apple.

I'd say a 2.5% growth rate, or even a flat rate, would be quite remarkable for Apple, considering it's a horrible economy and they don't even compete in the bargain basement range and don't produce cheap netbooks.

If they can maintain in this economy, they should be well positioned when the economy picks up, without having sacrificed margins by running for the bottom.

[SandynJosh]

Originally Posted by HiRez

I'd say a 2.5% growth rate, or even a flat rate, would be quite remarkable for Apple, considering it's a horrible economy and they don't even compete in the bargain basement range and don't produce cheap netbooks.

If they can maintain in this economy, they should be well positioned when the economy picks up, without having sacrificed margins by running for the bottom.

I totally agree. To some extent, the netbook market is kind of a "Pet Rock" fad. When hand held calculators came out there was a push to see just how small (and useless) they could be made. Once they got there, they began to grow back up a bit and become more feature rich.

I was in the local coffee shop, where if you did a quick eyeball survey, you'd think Apple's market share was somewhere over 80%, and I saw my first netbook. I talked to the guy and found that he was underwhelmed with it, it's tiny keyboard, and it's battery life.

Once the economy warms back up, there's going to be a lot of pent up demand for "real computers" once again.

[jaw04005]

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to Apple. When it comes to Apple desktops, the iMac has always made up the majority of the sales. It's likely that's why rumors about significant iMac price cuts in line with the latest MacBook price cuts have been making the rounds.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...d_by_fall.html

The iMac has had an exuberant margin for some time. As the prices of Core 2 Duo processors and associated components have fallen, Apple has been reluctant to decrease the price of iMac line.

It will be interesting to see if they try to reinvent the line in the next few months with a new design or additional features.

Here's the iSuppli breakdown for the current Mac mini. I couldn't find the current iMac breakdown.

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Apple's numbers are good. No, they're bad. No, they're good. WTF?!?!

I guess we'll just have to wait for the quarterly profit results. Isn't that all that matters?

[bfc]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

Plenty of losses all around.

No, in the 1st quarter they did post a profit, but it did decline about 30% from the same time last year.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by bfc

No, in the 1st quarter they did post a profit, but it did decline about 30% from the same time last year.

I'm not necessarily talking about Apple. They're quite lucky to be making it through these times.

[longofest]

Both Gartner and IDC have notes that the numbers are preliminary. They will have to make adjustments once all of the PC makers announce their quarterly results (Apple announces their results next week).

Also to keep in mind: Gartner and IDC's calendars aren't fiscally based. So, their 2nd quarters equal Apple's 3rd quarter, which they are about to announce earnings next week.

[bfc]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

I'm not necessarily talking about Apple. They're quite lucky to be making it through these times.

Just to clarify I was talking about Acer, Not Apple.