Apple Maintains Mac Sales Momentum Amid Overall Worldwide PC Market Decline

[MacRumors]

Amid an overall decline in worldwide PC shipments, Apple is the sole manufacturer that saw positive shipment growth, according to new PC shipping estimates from Gartner. With worldwide PC shipments from Lenovo, HP, Dell, ASUS, and Acer down, Apple also broke into Gartner's list of top 5 worldwide PC vendors for the first time since Q3 2015.

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)​

During the fourth quarter of 2015, Apple shipped 5.7 million PCs, for 7.5 percent market share. That's up from 5.5 million PCs and 6.7 percent market share in the year ago quarter, for an overall year-over-year growth of 2.8 percent. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 75.7 million units in Q4 2015, an 8.3 percent decline, with Acer and Lenovo seeing some of the biggest drops.

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)​

In the United States, Apple saw more significant growth of 6.5 percent, shipping an estimated 2.2 million PCs in Q4 2015 for 12.8 percent market share. That's up from 2 million PCs and 11.6 percent market share in Q4 2014. When it comes to U.S. PC shipments, Lenovo saw significant growth with 2.1 million shipments, while ASUS maintained status quo with 1.2 million shipments. HP, Dell, and manufacturers in the "Other" group that comprises non top-5 vendors, all saw a decline in shipments.

Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-4Q15 (Gartner)​

Overall PC sales in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2015 were at 16.9 million, a decline of 3.1 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. According to Gartner, PCs were not a top holiday gift item.

"Holiday sales had a limited impact on PC sales in the U.S. market," Ms. Kitagawa said. "Notebooks were off the top wish list of holiday gifts. Unlike 2014 holiday sales, there were not many holiday mega deals for laptops, especially in value segments. At the same time, consumers' interest shifted to other consumer electronics devices such as TV's and wearables. "

For the full year, Gartner estimates Apple shipped a total of 20.7 million PCs worldwide, ranking the company as the number 5 worldwide PC vendor for 2015. That's up from 19.6 million total in 2014, for a total growth of 5.8 percent and a 7.2 percent share of the market. Lenovo was the market leader in 2015 with 57 million shipments, while HP was second with 52 million and Dell and ASUS were third and fourth with 39 and 21 million shipments, respectively.

IDC also released its own estimates of Apple's worldwide and U.S. PC shipments during the fourth quarter of 2015, which are surprisingly close to Gartner's numbers considering the two firms' estimates typically differ significantly. IDC also estimates Apple shipped 5.7 million PCs during the quarter, for 7.9 percent market share. Like Gartner, IDC ranks Apple as the number 5 worldwide PC vendor.

For U.S. shipments, IDC estimates Apple shipped 2.2 million machines for a 12.7 percent share of the market. Both Gartner and IDC rank Apple as the number three PC vendor in the United States, below HP and Dell. IDC's shipment estimate for the full year also matches Gartner's, with Apple responsible for 20.7 million shipments and 7.5 percent market share, up from 19.6 million shipments and 6.3 percent market share in 2014.

It's important to note that data from Data from Gartner and IDC is preliminary and the numbers can shift. Last year, for example, Gartner predicted PC shipments of 2.1 million and 11.7 percent market share for Apple in 4Q 2014, later revising that number to 2 million shipments and 11.6 percent market share.

Gartner and IDC both position Apple as the sole top vendor that saw positive worldwide growth in 2015, and the same trend could continue into 2016. Apple is expected to refresh many of its Macs during the year, introducing significant upgrades in the form of Skylake processors for most machines.

Article Link: Apple Maintains Mac Sales Momentum Amid Overall Worldwide PC Market Decline

 

[appledefenceforce]

But Macrumours readers told me that the new Macs suck and no one would want them.

 

[Tech198]

Good to see Dell is in there who let this guy in the front door

 

[JimmyHook]

At least real people love macs. The trolls in the comment forums make up all kinds of bs about macs being terrible. This is conclusive proof. Apple always wins and other companies consistently fail.

 

[dannyyankou]

I like this trend

 

[mistasopz]

But Macrumours readers told me that the new Macs suck and no one would want them.

I'm pretty sure Macrumors didn't say that.

As a side note, OSX market share world wide is just over 5%: https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0. To put that in perspective, there are still more than twice as many users still using windows XP...

 

[AustinIllini]

People want good laptops. Period. Not hybrids or any of that garbage that turns into a tablet with 2 hour battery life. They want the best experience on the best hardware.

 

[MNJohn]

This is surprising news as almost the entire Mac line appears now obsolete.

 

[Soccertess]

Imagine how mac sales would be in if Tim actually kept up these amazing product cutting edge. Macbook air and macbook air need a major refresh.

And for those who give Tim all the credit for amazing sales, Jobs handed him the golden eggs. He just needs to keep the eggs warm.. if he can

 

[powertoold]

All the MacBook line is thinner bezels and TouchID. We don't need dumb hybrids or detachable stuff.

 

[Goatllama]

But Macrumours readers told me that the new Macs suck and no one would want them.

I thought this company was doomed????

 

[Juicy Box]

Imagine how mac sales would be in if Tim actually kept up these amazing product cutting edge.

I love my Macs. I have been using them for over 20 years, have have purchased over a dozen for my home.

But, lately, it seems like Macs are becoming Apple's "Red headed step child".

They do not get updates that often, and sometimes the previous model becomes more attractive in the short term. Like in the case of the Mac Mini.

Also, I look at the reducing of the SSD in the fusion drive and wonder why they would do stuff like that.

I love my Macs, and can never picture myself switching to Windows, at least not anytime soon, but I wonder how long Apple will be able to keep these Mac sales up.

 

[TallManNY]

Where I work we use PCs (lately Toshiba laptops for the most part). The Toshibas have pretty much all had problems. And they have terrible screens. And they cost about the same price as a Macbook Pro, or at least a Macbook Air. And considering the work we do the couple of hundred dollar differences for a piece of mission critical equipment is irrelevant. I occasionally have fairly senior executives running to their local Staples or Kinkos to find a computer they can use for a few moments because their laptop has failed. One event like this kills the value of saving $300 price difference between the hardware. And keep in mind that if we had bought Macs we'd be expecting 4 or more years of service from the hardware.

Honestly I'm not sure that PCs can stay in business for high level equipment. They have to skimp because they sell on price. But the users don't actually care about price when they have important stuff to get done.

 

[AustinIllini]

Imagine how mac sales would be in if Tim actually kept up these amazing product cutting edge. Macbook air and macbook air need a major refresh.

And for those who give Tim all the credit for amazing sales, Jobs handed him the golden eggs. He just needs to keep the eggs warm.. if he can

I don't have to imagine. I can go to the Apple Store today and see the best computers on the market bar-none.

 

[ericinboston]

1)Macs have and always will be in the 7-15% of "personal computer sales" for a lot of reasons. This story is the same old story we hear every Quarter on MR.

2)As I've said before, Wintel people don't buy new computers every 2-3 years...it's probably more like every 5-7 for consumers and maybe 3-4 for businesses. The only exception to that rule is if a particular computer breaks or was never a good fit.

3)The Wintel industry offers a gazillion choices of computers with all sorts of needs/options while Apple ships a few laptops and a few desktops...I'm talking 100 Wintels vs. 10 Macs. Therefore, it's quite likely that Wintel users can buy/find exactly what they want (and me being a power user I like speed and performance) and hence do not have to upgrade soon compared to a Mac, that, unless you spend thousands of bucks, is outdated in 3 years. Putting the Windows vs. Apple OS argument aside, I can buy a 4 or 6 core high end cpu desktop with 32GB of RAM and numerous USB 3.0 and SATA3 ports and a 500GB SSD for far, far less than those specs (if they exist) on a Mac desktop.


I'm glad Macs have "gained" since last year but again, it's the same old single-digit % market share as usual.

p.s. I was dying to buy a new Mac Mini last year...the latest Mac Mini is shameful.

 

[Markoth]

But Macrumours readers told me that the new Macs suck and no one would want them.

I'm pretty sure that all of the complaints were directed at the MacBook, which is certainly not a device for your average MR reader... Definitely not a device for me either. Those who surf the web and check their email? Should work fine for them. The rest of the lineup is as great as ever! Do they need to be updated to Skylake? Sure. Knowing Apple, they'll do it at the earliest convenience. Broadwell was an Intel screw-up.

 

[ericinboston]

I don't have to imagine. I can go to the Apple Store today and see the best computers on the market bar-none.

Define "best."

 

[ProjectManager101]

A mac is always a good investment, they last for ever. When I get one I always get the top of the line fully optimized, they last 5 years easy. I still have a 12" Powerbook from 2004 up and running. 17" Mac book pro from 2008, A Mac Pro from 2008 and this new one 15" MBP from last year.

 

[Zirel]

As a side note, OSX market share world wide is just over 5%: https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0. To put that in perspective, there are still more than twice as many users still using windows XP...

Yes, the future is Windows XP!

One day, all computers will be running Windows XP!

 

[maxsix]

Same basic report, different year. It's the exceptionally high gross that Apple charges which keeps profits up. Market share was never Apple's strength.

 

[GhostRaider]

In my opinion, anybody who needs a laptop should get a Macbook. Don't question it, just accept it.

In terms of desktop, none of them convinced me. I'm not that happy with the iMacs, or Mac Mini. Great design and all but a desktop has to be powerful. Their specifications were somewhat disappointing and are overpriced which is why I made my own Hackintosh. I wanted OS X with powerful hardware at a fraction of the cost.

Desktop = Maximum performance
Laptops = Portability, battery life, and it just works.
Tablets = ?

I understand that people want to edit 4K videos or play high end games on there laptops, but isn't it better to edit or play on a desktop machine? That's what they're designed for. Laptops were meant for portable work like document editing, notes, web surfing, FaceTime, and light photo and video editing.

 

[Zirel]

They do not get updates that often, and sometimes the previous model becomes more attractive in the short term. Like in the case of the Mac Mini.

What you mean?

Before they updated once in a year, now they update twice.

But yeah, the Mac Mini needs some serious update. As well as the iMac, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, which still don't feature USB-C ports, still no Thunderbolt 4.0, still no new generation CPU's...

 

[ericinboston]

Where I work we use PCs (lately Toshiba laptops for the most part). The Toshibas have pretty much all had problems. And they have terrible screens. And they cost about the same price as a Macbook Pro, or at least a Macbook Air. And considering the work we do the couple of hundred dollar differences for a piece of mission critical equipment is irrelevant. I occasionally have fairly senior executives running to their local Staples or Kinkos to find a computer they can use for a few moments because their laptop has failed. One event like this kills the value of saving $300 price difference between the hardware. And keep in mind that if we had bought Macs we'd be expecting 4 or more years of service from the hardware.

1)I have never had direct experience with Toshiba but from my understanding, their stuff is basically someone's 3rd or 4th choice for a product.

Honestly I'm not sure that PCs can stay in business for high level equipment.

2)Do you mean high end computers? What do you think powers the world (data centers, IT rooms, "the cloud", and anything that would be classified as a "server")? It sure ain't Macs!! If you're talking about Executives' choices for laptops, trust me, Wintel will live on forever. I agree Macs are sexier and sleeker but there are 39 other reasons why an Executive can't/won't buy a Mac. I have friends high up in numerous 50,000+ employee companies who have found some very, very nice Wintel ultrabook-type machines that are so powerful, thin, light, and functional that people have actually stopped using iPads...which I find astonishing.

 

[TechZeke]

This is surprising news as almost the entire Mac line appears now obsolete.

I really don't think Apple can wait until June, especially for the 15". At this point, I'd almost rather they just give the 15" rMBP a 6700HQ and 960M and be done with it. I love my Iris Pro-only Machine, but Iris Pro is clearly NOT a priority for Intel, and it's ridiculous having to keep the 15" behind just because Apple is having an internal war on dGPUs.

What makes it twice as hilarious is that Apple was the very company that lunched the stupid USB-C port, yet nothing else this year got updated to include it. Feels like it was a Samsung-type move just to beat everyone else to USB-C.

 

[JPSaltzman]

As someone who is need of updating his Mac lineup, I find myself stopping every time I go to apple.com and look at what is being offered. The stock computers are (let's admit it) lame, and outdated by at least two-years when compared to what is being offered on PCs. I am talking about Flash Storage prices, RAM prices, Intel chip updates, etc. Apple is at least two years' behind their computers, and yet charging outrageous prices for any sort of upgrade (why are they still offering hard-disk drives at 5400 rpm speed?!?!?!).

So Apple is shooting themselves in the foot. They are making money *(too much money)* on the upgrades they are forcing upon the user. If we want a top-notch machine at top-notch speed and performance, Apple is hitting us with (yes) the Apple Penalty….. 1.5x or 2.x the price. They do it with the Macs, they especially do it with their iOS devices and their meager stock-RAM and storage.

Shame on Apple. They should be the leader in all things -- innovative and in competitive pricing.

 

[Soccertess]

I don't have to imagine. I can go to the Apple Store today and see the best computers on the market bar-none.

I look at the macbook pro and macbook air and think. When will these get updated, when will the macbook air get retina screen, or lose the benzel of 5 years ago. I also think, why don't they have usb-c?

Like I said, amazing products but aren't as cutting edge as they were a couple of years ago. It's ok to be critical of apple, or else we will get the one button mouse again.