Apple Captures 19.5% of Global PC and Tablet Market in Q4 2013

[whooleytoo]

What I'm curious about is how Steve Jobs saw this coming so many years ago. He declared a post-PC world when the original iPad launched, and at the time I couldn't understand what he was saying. But for a vast number of people, a tablet now does everything they would usually do on a "computer". What's the point of getting a multi-core desktop (or laptop) when all you're going to do is surf the Net, check Facebook and send a few e-mails? For people who need a computer for more traditional tasks, those are still available and will be for a long time to come. But for a majority of people, a tablet seems to be fine.

I wonder how many people have just a tablet. No laptop, no desktop. I'd find that an interesting stat to read.

I reckon the number is (for now) still pretty small. What I'd guess is happening now, is people are upgrading their old laptop less often, and making do with a new tablet (for general browsing, social media, light email use), and an old laptop (for the tasks at which the tablet isn't great). They're not exactly "switching over" yet, but it's enough to see a serious decline in the PC market.

 

[ender78]

The comparison is about sales not use cases. The full sized iPad retails for about the same or in some cases MORE than a good number of the laptops that Dell/HP/Lenovo sell. Furthermore Apple has much greater margins than its competitors. Who cares if Dell sells 100 computers making a 10% margin when Apple can sell 100 iPad for less than the said cost of the PC and still make more money in the end.

If you look at actual revenues and not just units moved, it doesn't take a genius to see who is in trouble going forward.

 

[titanz91]

Deceptive Wording

Sorry, but iPads don't count as 'computers'. When they can do everything as well and have the same features or better than a Mac or equivalent Windows/Linux PC, then we can call it a PC, but until then... No, it's just a toy that you can sometimes create with. All be it, a really really nice toy, lol, but still. I mean, I know you can use it for some content creation, but it is still by far and mostly used for consumption of media.

 

[KdParker]

Take out the iPad and its a vastly different picture.

Sure, but lots of people are replacing desktops/laptops with iPads or tablets.

 

[RedOrchestra]

The comparison is about sales not use cases. The full sized iPad retails for about the same or in some cases MORE than a good number of the laptops that Dell/HP/Lenovo sell. Furthermore Apple has much greater margins than its competitors. Who cares if Dell sells 100 computers making a 10% margin when Apple can sell 100 iPad for less than the said cost of the PC and still make more money in the end.

If you look at actual revenues and not just units moved, it doesn't take a genius to see who is in trouble going forward.

Yeah, all those BIG sales, BIG margins and Apple's profits were FLAT - like you said "...it doesn't take a genius to see who is in trouble going forward.

 

[F apple FE]

The comparison is about sales not use cases.

If use cases don't figure at all you can lump together just about anything.

The full sized iPad retails for about the same or in some cases MORE than a good number of the laptops that Dell/HP/Lenovo sell.

Guess what, that's true for boatloads of smartphones too.

Besides, they include also not "full sized iPads" (the non-retina Mini is pretty cheap and always discounted to boot, here in Italy) and other cheap tablets.

Furthermore Apple has much greater margins than its competitors. Who cares if Dell sells 100 computers making a 10% margin when Apple can sell 100 iPad for less than the said cost of the PC and still make more money in the end.

If you look at actual revenues and not just units moved, it doesn't take a genius to see who is in trouble going forward.

Apple's margins are on a steady decline (and profits are flat or more precisely DOWN 6 million dollars) and Apple makes most of its money from a single product, the iPhone, whose marketshare is also declining...

"it doesn't take a genius to see" why Apple's stock has lost a lot and stays under pressure.

 

[gnasher729]

Apple's margins are on a steady decline and Apple makes most of its money from a single product, the iPhone, whose marketshare is also declining...

Since this whole thread is a discussion about whether a definition of a market ("Global PC and Tablet Market") is a good or bad definition, you should really refrain from talking about "marketshare" in a meaningless "market" ("Smart phones" instead of just "High-end phones" or "Phones").

iPhone marketshare in the phone market has been growing every year without fail. I know some people prefer hearing from meaningless markets where the share is falling, but those people shouldn't then complain about hearing numbers from a possibly meaningless market where Apple is leading.

 

[F apple FE]

iPhone marketshare in the phone market has been growing every year without fail.

"iPhone marketshare in the phone market"?!? ...WHAT?!? LMAO!

 

[Mainsail]

Almost everybody with a 9to5 job has a work computer provided by their employer. This is how the IT Department controls the enterprise systems.

For personal use, most people need to email, browse web, get directions, enjoy photos, do some banking, and maybe occasionally write a short letter. Simple stuff. For these functions, the iPad is a perfectly reasonable substitute for a laptop. So, an iPad does not need to perform every function as well as a laptop for it to be a viable alternative, which is one reason the data table is relevant.

Many of us are stuck in the paradigm that we need a full blown computer, since this is how we first got connected in the 80s and 90s. But, really most folks don't need much more than a tablet for personal use. If I was a young college grad (definitely not the case!) with a new job, I would use my work provided computer for work and buy a good smartphone and tablet for personal use. Young people are not stuck in the old paradigm, and they will drive long term change.

 

[Dorkington]

I replaced laptops in my life with tablets, for what it's worth.

I have not replaced my tv with a tablet, though.

 

[iLondoner]

Sure, but lots of people are replacing desktops/laptops with iPads or tablets.

Lots of personal purchases maybe but will your iPad run ANY business applications?

What mainstream Windows/OSX applications run on an iPad? And how do you go about collaborative working?

I tried to wrest my wife's PC from her arms and replace it with an iPad. But I failed miserably. I didn't get past first base. This article is a bit dated but still holds true.

.

 

[flottenheimer]

While I guess this makes sense for those building Windows 8 tablets and PCs, Apple believes that tablets and PCs are two entirely different things.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

No one chart can capture an entire picture in all its nuances - anyone who's tried to construct such charts would agree. That's why there are so many slides in a Keynote/PowerPoint. This is one chart that analyzes one particular aspect of the market, from a particular point of view - the shift in market share (and hence, market influence) as tablets both supplement and erode the PC market. If this chart doesn't address your interests and viewpoint, don't worry, someone else will publish that analysis.

Who might be interested in this analysis? A retailer who's allocating shelf space and placing orders. A retailer for whom tablets have become one more option they can present to a customer seeking to communicate with far-flung family and surf the web. They aren't going to argue whether a tablet is a "real" computer. If it's a $500 tablet vs. $500 bargain desktop... whatever the customer wants is just fine, so long as it's in stock. If it's meeting a $300 budget or no sale, here's the answer. And if they can up-sell from a tablet to a MacBook Air?? So much the better. But in any case, it's the same customer, so for them, tablet is in the same category as PC.

If you want a chart that shows who has the fastest computer, or is capable of running a particular program, or provides input/output in a particular format... This chart doesn't even ask the question, so it certainly isn't going to hold the answer. But under the hood, these things are general-purpose computers, regardless of power or i/o method.

Now, it would be interesting to see a chart that shows the spread of computer use that includes smart phones - they may be communications devices first, and computers second, but the fact that everyone can now have a computer in their pocket is pretty powerful stuff. However, that has little relevance to that big box retailer I described above. There are very few people who are buying smart phones in lieu of computers. They walk into the store looking for a phone, and they walk out with a phone.

 

[tongxinshe]

This statistics doesn't sound correct, maybe they totally ignored chrome book sales?

 

[dannyyankou]

This really is an odd metric. I bet Samsung is winning the combined TV and Tablet market. They both have screens and I can use Netflix on both, so why not measure that too? And LG is probably crushing the combined Phone and Refrigerator market...

Very dumb comparison. You know there are many people who use an iPad as they're only device? Not to mention that the graph includes Samsung, Lenovo, HP, and Dell tablets as well.

 

[Analog Kid]

Heh, Dell...

 

[iSunrise]

I wish apple would treat the iPad like a personal computer, then we wouldn't have to go through all this jailbreak bs just to be an administrator.

In their eyes, if they would do that, they are basically another Microsoft.

It´s ok though, because if it continues like that, more and more Macs will be replaced by Surface tablets altogether, with only very few Mac users left for Apple. This will be a slow transition, but Surface tablets are already very popular among businesses.

And don´t think for a second that MS isn´t watching Apple closely. They will transition even faster now, since Apple leaves so much empty room for others to take their ideas and innovate them further.

 

[macs4nw]

…..For example, for some reason we always see "smartphone" numbers and never "high-end smartphone" or "all phones" numbers. That's three possible numbers, one where Apple looks shrinking and two where it is stable or growing, and guess which one is rubbed into our noses all the time…..

Those covert Apple haters are blowing their covers occasionally...

More to the point, Samsung is definitely nipping at Lenovo's heels, and looks poised to overtake them in Q1 2014

 

[mdelvecchio]

Take out the iPad and its a vastly different picture.

yeah -- then you can make a chart that shows how Apple's PC-only business takes home the lion's hare of profit from the entire PC-only industry, despite selling a minority of PC-only market share.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I agree that the majority of those who are replacing their laptops/desktops with an iPad/tablet mainly used them for content consumption and not any productivity. Those who need productivity will still prefer a laptop/desktop due to speed, performance, reliability and lets not forgot, a keyboard.

It depends on what you mean by productivity. Some people, even some small business owners, only need to check email and do light computing tasks.

For years the device they used was a traditional PC... because that's all there was. But now there are more options.

I know a lady who owns a very successful dance studio... and she rarely turns on her laptop anymore. She can do most of her daily tasks on her iPad and iPhone.

When it's time to do payroll... of course she uses her laptop and Quickbooks.

But the rest of the month is spent away from her laptop.

I was eating at a local pizza joint and I noticed the manager sitting in a booth with a ton of paperwork... and an iPad. I asked if she can do most of her work on an iPad now... and she said yes. Her food supplier has an iPad app and she can place orders directly from the iPad.

Yeah... I'm sure there is a regular PC somewhere in the restaurant. But she could do a lot of her work from an iPad.

These are just a couple examples and it certainly doesn't apply to everyone... but it's happening.

In both those examples there is still a traditional PC in the mix. But how much longer will that be necessary? You can add a keyboard to an iPad if you desire. And as mobile devices get faster and faster... speed won't be an issue either. You can certainly be productive on an iPad.

That said... the PC will never totally go away. There will still be some people who need them.

But like I said... there was a time when EVERYBODY used a PC to do EVERYTHING... from simple web browsing to advanced 3D modeling. We all used basically the same type of machine because that's all there was. Even if you only needed to check email... you still used a full PC.

Nowadays... that's not the case.

 

[mdelvecchio]

This used to be nonsense, now that they include the iPad mini also, it is stupidity. Even apple does not bunch up the numbers. IPads are not good enough to be considered an apple computer.

nonsense -- even the lowest-end iPad is a superior personal computer than many legacy Macs. it has more computation power and has more capable apps, including productivity.

how do you rationalize around this simple fact?

 

[iSunrise]

It depends on what you mean by productivity. Some people, even some small business owners, only need to check email and do light computing tasks.

For years the device they used was a traditional PC... because that's all there was. But now there are more options.

I know a lady who owns a very successful dance studio... and she rarely turns on her laptop anymore. She can do most of her daily tasks on her iPad and iPhone.

When it's time to do payroll... of course she uses her laptop and Quickbooks.

But the rest of the month is spent away from her laptop.

I was eating at a local pizza joint and I noticed the manager sitting in a booth with a ton of paperwork... and an iPad. I asked if she can do most of her work on an iPad now... and she said yes. Her food supplier has an iPad app and she can place orders directly from the iPad.

Yeah... I'm sure there is a regular PC somewhere in the restaurant. But she could do a lot of her work from an iPad.

These are just a couple examples and it certainly doesn't apply to everyone... but it's happening.

In both those examples there is still a traditional PC in the mix. But how much longer will that be necessary? You can add a keyboard to an iPad if you desire. And as mobile devices get faster and faster... speed won't be an issue either. You can certainly be productive on an iPad.

That said... the PC will never totally go away. There will still be some people who need them.

But like I said... there was a time when EVERYBODY used a PC to do EVERYTHING... from simple web browsing to advanced 3D modeling. We all used basically the same type of machine because that's all there was. Even if you only needed to check email... you still used a full PC.

Nowadays... that's not the case.

True. They have found out how to target the majority and they build their products around people´s needs. And it seems they are not worried, because the iPad can be improved in evolutionary steps, to make sure their target audience is always satisfied and can do 90% of the work with it. And of course, along with it, they continuously earn more and more money with each step. It´s like the perfect master plan. It´s actually amazing how simple it is.

 

[Mainsail]

Sorry, but iPads don't count as 'computers'. When they can do everything as well and have the same features or better than a Mac or equivalent Windows/Linux PC, then we can call it a PC, but until then... No, it's just a toy that you can sometimes create with. All be it, a really really nice toy, lol, but still. I mean, I know you can use it for some content creation, but it is still by far and mostly used for consumption of media.

I don't see how the wording is deceptive. The chart title clearly says: "PCs including Tablets", so Tablets are part of the data. You might believe that there is no value in charting this data together, but that doesn't mean it is deceptive.

I think it is valuable to look at these trends including tablets because tablets are often purchased as a substitute for replacing a conventional computer. There are many reasons a person might do this, and it really doesn't matter if you would never do it because a tablet doesn't meet some of your needs. The functionality of tablets and conventional computers overlap enough that there is an impact on the PC market. If you don't believe the laptop/desktop market has been disrupted by tablets, you haven't read much about PC sales over the last 4 years.

These endless debates about what type of productivity software can be run on a laptop vs a tablet are also meaningless. The bottom-line is tablets have an impact on the PC marketplace and charting the data is useful for some types of market analysis.

 

[aerok]

The ''I replaced my laptop/PC with an iPad'' doesn't always work as an argument. I legit replaced one of my PCs with a smart TV. It does not mean we should combine TV sales with PC sales.

 

[tdale]

I agree, but it still makes sense though: iPads replace PCs, so combining figures seems legit. Including iPhones, for instance, would be ridiculous on the other hand.

LOL no they dont!! An iPad will never replace a PC as its restrictive. Its designed primarily for consumption, a desktop (desktop/laptop, PC or Mac) is designed for creation.

If an iPad could run OSX, then it is a full computer, but it isn't its a complementary device offering great portability, with the caveat that is is poor and inconvenient for creation, although it can do that

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Apple needs another home run product to maintain this momentum...

I never see ads in NZ promoting the MBA or MBP, that has to be a great untapped market

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That is so not a valid argument!! The iPad is a personal computer The iPad for a good number of people replace their laptop. And since we are in a post PC era tablet should be counted

iPad can ADD to the experience, but it cannot replace it, a full PC/Mac does everything, an iPad is a subset. Sure, some light users can and do replace the laptop/desktop. Have you considered writing documents extensivly on an iPad, managing databases, spreadsheets, editing photo/video, downloading non iTunes files to read/watch? Running an office on iPads? They are a subset