Apple Again Trails U.S. PC Market in Key Back-to-School Quarter as Tablets Continue to Eat Into PC Sales

[the8thark]

Apart from the fact that a Tablet is still a PC. Just a different type of PC. They really need to say Tablet PCs eat into non tablet PC sales.

(This is without talking about the issue of: is a smartphone a phone that can do other things or a portable PC that can make phone calls?)

 

[BC2009]

The drop was due to them not updating their laptops...

I know I was willing to buy a rMBP back in June but yet they're still not here.

Mac sales falter in the PC market when they haven't done any update to their more budget friendly laptops in over a year. Why is this a surprise or considered news? In fact, I disagree with headline in the fact that they seem to be implying that it's because of the iPad.

So, total PC sales:

3Q 2012 - 15582
3Q 2013 - 16121

and "Research firms Gartner and IDC today released their preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the third quarter of 2013, finding that worldwide shipments fell by roughly 8% over the year-ago quarter"

Apparently they taught me the wrong math at school.

This is what happens when you neglect your computers, it's no fault to the ipad.

For all of you, please keep in mind that these are only IDC's and Gartner's estimates. Last year IDC predicted a 7.5% decline for Mac and Gartner predicted a 7.4% increase in Mac Q3 sales. Reality was a 1.3% decline (nearly flat). Like lilo777 pointed out, there is some odd math at work here, not the least of which is the fact that these numbers are all guesses. Let's see what reality is on October 28th at the Apple earnings call.

 

[vmachiel]

This is the math commonly known as Post-PC math. It says that computer sales must go down, they just have to.

Best comment in this thread! I hate the whole post-pc push with a passion. It'll come on it's own just let me have a few more years with my trusty Macbook

 

[iSayuSay]

Now see, I never said Macs last longer than PC's, you brought that whole thing up on your own. I was responding to someone saying that Macs don't last, well mine have. You've only stated one Mac with a problem, that says nothing.

----------

In that case then you're not correct either. The original post you quoted never said or implied "Macs don't last". It states the whole "Mac lasts longer" meme is simply not true.

So that doesn't mean "Mac don't last as good as Pc" either. It can also means "Mac is not always better than PC" or "PC can be just as durable as Mac"

But the statement you tried to oppose so hard by stating your iBook, PowerBook etc. etc. lasts long and all that indicates you were trying to prove "Mac lasts longer than PC". So it's contradictory if you're saying you're not.

Oh yes, you also only stated your personal experience with Macs which you claimed to be durable. Does it represent the whole population or the real evidence? That's right, your experience means nothing either.

 

[Woyzeck]

The problem for Apple is that it's very hard for them to compete in the emerging PC markets in Asia and the US/European markets are saturated and shrinking, especially in consumer PCs. Apple can't compensate this with enterprise sales as they were never successful with larger companies. Their appliances sales (phones, tablets) are still going strong and those devices are in a price range that is somehow affordable to Asians, be it for the sake of the brand's prestige (i'm sure golden iPads would sell very well there).

So we can expect an even stronger focus on phones, tablets and wearables in the future and we'll see Apple neglecting its computers even more. It's possible that they'll drop the Mac product line at all within the next years.

The only real asset that they have in Asia is their brand image. Besides that they're not affordable to the new middle classes there. In addition to that consumers in Asia prefer buying in retail shops. While you can find a Lenovo outlet in even smaller cities there it's very hard to get your hands on a Mac. Apple's sales channels that more or less eliminated retailers are just not working in Asia (for example many people don't have credit cards).

 

[iSayuSay]

....

So we can expect an even stronger focus on phones, tablets and wearables in the future and we'll see Apple neglecting its computers even more. It's possible that they'll drop the Mac product line at all within the next years.
.....

So true. Apple is getting more and more lazy on Mac development. You can see that even Apple don't really try to improve Mac sales or development.

OSX Maverick is officially Mountain Lion 2014 edition and no ground breaking improvement were made. Mac AppStore is so so at best and development is not as rigorous as iOS.

I would not be surprised if 4 or 5 years from now Apple officially kill Mac and OSX. Most people feels satisfied with iPad and iPhone and that's about it. Simple yet bitter fact indeed for older demographic.

 

[rmwebs]

Should have updated the MacBook Pros, iMac, and Mac mini at WWDC.

I'm sure they would have if they were ready. No sense in releasing an unfinished product.

 

[G-News]

Since the introduction of the original OS X, it has been gradually improved. The last groundbreaking move was the move from PPC to Intel. And that didn't add any features for the user either. OSes rarely break new ground, unless its a completely new system. And that happens like once every 20 years.

 

[rmwebs]

It's possible that they'll drop the Mac product line at all within the next years.

I can tell you now that won't happen any time soon.

Every single iOS app is developed on a Mac. Apple aren't about to redevelop the iPhone, Objective-C and the entire XCode suite for Windows just so they can drop the mac line.

 

[Ashin]

this trend will continue

Apple's loss of sales is a trend that'll continue...? Well, I guess you're right

 

[MWPULSE]

There's always one that thinks they are the exception to the rule.

That goes both ways doesn't it though?

 

[Klae17]

I'm sure they would have if they were ready. No sense in releasing an unfinished product.

With Apple's resources and connections, they could have updated them, easily.

 

[Monkeydude]

So, total PC sales:

3Q 2012 - 15582
3Q 2013 - 16121

and "Research firms Gartner and IDC today released their preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the third quarter of 2013, finding that worldwide shipments fell by roughly 8% over the year-ago quarter"

Apparently they taught me the wrong math at school.

No, but reading:
"According to Gartner's numbers, the !!!!!U.S. market!!!!!!! held up significantly better than the global market, actually registering a 3.5% increase in shipments"

To make it simple for you guys: worlwide!!!! shipments fell 8%, while US!!!!!! shipments rose 3,5%.

 

[Renzatic]

This is without talking about the issue of: is a smartphone a phone that can do other things or a portable PC that can make phone calls?

Good question. My personal opinion is that they're little PCs that can make phonecalls. Every generation that passes makes this more and more true.

...and it's the reason why a lot of us would like an iPhone with a bigger screen. Or hell, an iPad Mini with a cellular radio would work, too. That could be the Apple phablet.

 

[Winni]

Only 16 million PC sales in the US.

Market is doomed.

It's not doomed, it's saturated. Even a five years old PC or notebook is still powerful enough today to handle anything that you throw at it. I recently breathed new life into my old notebook at work by replacing the hard disk with an SSD; everything else is more than powerful enough to let me do my network-related job. Unless the thing falls apart, it's good enough for a couple more years.

Most users at home only need a little office software and a web browser - and that they can also do with a tablet. No wonder the PC industry is in trouble. Since almost everything has moved to "the cloud", the requirements for the client have almost dropped to zero.

So, like the other poster said, this trend only shows how little home users actually do with their machines.

 

[the8thark]

Good question. My personal opinion is that they're little PCs that can make phonecalls. Every generation that passes makes this more and more true.

...and it's the reason why a lot of us would like an iPhone with a bigger screen. Or hell, an iPad Mini with a cellular radio would work, too. That could be the Apple phablet.

The Apple iPhablet is a controversial issue. A vocal number want one made and others do not want one made. I am in the do not want one made camp. But time will tell as to what Apple does.

A cellular radio in the iPad mini I think would be the best solution. I think that is tailor made for that kind of thing. And that way Apple don't have to make an iPhablet. Cause it'd already exist in the Mini.

 

[vmistery]

It looks to be a good day to be Lenovo from a shipments figure. Just remind me how little profit they make though?! Kinda what's the point?

 

[the8thark]

It looks to be a good day to be Lenovo from a shipments figure. Just remind me how little profit they make though?! Kinda what's the point?

And that's exactly why margins are very important.

 

[Renzatic]

The Apple iPhablet is a controversial issue. A vocal number want one made and others do not want one made. I am in the do not want one made camp. But time will tell as to what Apple does.

A cellular radio in the iPad mini I think would be the best solution. I think that is tailor made for that kind of thing. And that way Apple don't have to make an iPhablet. Cause it'd already exist in the Mini.

Yup. The only downside to being able to make phonecalls with the Mini is that you'd look like a teetotal dork slapping it up against the side of your head when you want to talk to someone. A headset or a good pair of loud speakers would go quite a ways to alleviate that one problem, though.

See, I think Apple does need to do something here because the one biggest limiting factor of the iPhone is that the screen is far too small for the hardware behind it. All the arguments about 64-bit aside, the iPhone 5s is almost amazingly fast and capable, but it's relegated to a communications device/portable game machine because a 4" screen is just too small to do anything else on it. Even playing around on the internet feels a bit cludgy in comparison to the larger Android phones.

A Mini with a cellular radio would hit that happy medium. You can't fit it into your pocket like the iPhone, but it's more comfortable than the iPad for carrying around with you everywhere you go, and is just big enough to be more than decent for just about anything you'd want to do with it. Watching movies, looking at webpages, Facetime, playing games, drawing, editing photos, even doing a little bit of on-the-go office work. It's a good size for all of it.

If Apple were to keep the iPhone the same size as it is for people who like smaller phones, but set it up so the Mini can make phonecalls, they'd have all their bases covered without making any huge changes to their current lineup.

 

[Michael CM1]

Kinda reads like this maybe 15 years ago.

"Samsung slipping in VCR sales. Meanwhile, Samsung selling a lot of DVD players."

No, computers aren't on their way out like that. But people are going to upgrade a $1,000+ computer way less when they do most of their stuff on a $500 tablet. My iMac is half the time a glorified media server and BD ripper.

 

[rmwebs]

With Apple's resources and connections, they could have updated them, easily.

By that logic, with Apple's resources and connections Maps should have been a success, as should MobileMe. All their own mobile apps should have been updated ready for iOS7.

It's not as simple as saying 'they have lots of money and employees, it's easy'. From a development perspective, moving XCode to Windows would literally require iOS being started over again. It'd be like porting Visual Basic to the mac- its an impossibility without bringing across most of Windows in the process.

The same applies with XCode. It cant be ported to windows. Even the iOS Simulator can't.

You're talking about essentially rewriting OS X in a 'wrapper' for Windows. Do you have any comprehension of the cost, time, and reliability of something like that? I'm not talking about the nice looking UI, I'm talking about the entire OS, the core of the operating system that took 10+ years to build.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

 

[everything-i]

Seems a little over simplistic to look at trends data like this to draw any conclusions as Apple have failed to update many of their laptops for over a year now. I am sure there is plenty of pent up demand which will be apparent when new product gets released, hopefully soon.

 

[AdonisSMU]

People want the new hardware. Who knew? Tim seems a little bit too detached and uninterested for my tastes. That doesnt sell computers.

 

[winston1236]

Mac sales falter in the PC market when they haven't done any update to their more budget friendly laptops in over a year. Why is this a surprise or considered news? In fact, I disagree with headline in the fact that they seem to be implying that it's because of the iPad.

I agree, they have premium pricing during a lasting economic downturn. Sales will continue on down until of the two changes.

 

[Michael Goff]

It's not doomed, it's saturated. Even a five years old PC or notebook is still powerful enough today to handle anything that you throw at it. I recently breathed new life into my old notebook at work by replacing the hard disk with an SSD; everything else is more than powerful enough to let me do my network-related job. Unless the thing falls apart, it's good enough for a couple more years.

Most users at home only need a little office software and a web browser - and that they can also do with a tablet. No wonder the PC industry is in trouble. Since almost everything has moved to "the cloud", the requirements for the client have almost dropped to zero.

So, like the other poster said, this trend only shows how little home users actually do with their machines.

I forgot my sarcasm tag for my post, it seems.