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Apple's lineup of MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models accounted for roughly one in ten notebooks shipped worldwide last year, according to data published today by research firm TrendForce.

mac-macbook-family-trio-800x330.jpg

TrendForce claims that Apple surpassed ASUS to become the world's fourth largest notebook vendor, with an estimated 9.6 percent market share in 2017, up from 8.3 percent in 2016. ASUS saw its market share drop to an estimated 9.5 percent last year, down from a reported 10.3 percent in 2016.

The research firm says Apple releasing updated MacBook Pro models in June 2017 helped the company expand its shipments by 18 percent for the whole year--supposedly the highest growth rate among all notebook brands.

TrendForce estimates notebook shipments from all brands totaled 164.7 million units worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 2.1 percent. Windows PC makers HP, Lenovo, and Dell led the industry with estimated 24.3 percent, 20.2 percent, and 15.2 percent market shares respectively in 2017.

trendforce-notebooks-2017.jpg

It's important to note that Apple doesn't break down its Mac sales on a model-by-model basis in its earnings reports, so TrendForce's data is estimated, likely based in part on the average selling price of a Mac.

Another caveat is that PC makers like HP, Lenovo, and Dell sell a wide variety of notebooks at all different price points, while Apple primarily targets the high-end market, with its cheapest notebook being the outdated MacBook Air for $999 and up. Apple's profit margins are also significantly higher.

Apple routinely flip-flops between fourth and fifth place in the notebook market, so these results aren't overly surprising. The company is expected to remain the world's fourth most popular notebook vendor in 2018.

What's next for Apple's notebook lineup? We haven't heard much yet, but a recent report claimed that at least three new Mac models integrated with custom co-processors, including updated notebooks and a new desktop, are planned for release later this year. MacBook refreshes often occur between March and June.

Apple's desktop lineup has actually received more attention than MacBooks recently. In addition to the all-new iMac Pro, Apple continues to work on a Mac Pro with an upgradeable design. The portable Mac mini has also gone well over three years without an update, and could certainly use a refresh.

For a history of release dates and the latest rumors about the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro, be sure to visit our Mac Buyer's Guide.

Article Link: MacBook Lineup Represented Estimated 1 in 10 Notebooks Shipped Worldwide Last Year
 
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Does anyone know if the keyboard issue where a speck of dust can render a key inoperable has been fixed in production yet?

I've done some searching around and learned that the keyboard was slightly redesigned between the 2016 and 2017 revisions, but there's no mention as to whether the dust problem was solved. Knowing the Macbook keyboards have this problem keep me from upgrading.
 
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Is there an HP refresh coming soon? Or a Lenovo refresh? Does anyone know? Does anyone care?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes, you're welcome.;):D:p
Since the major PC vendors introduce multiple machines at varying times during the year, they are always refreshing their line ups.
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What, you mean you aren't going to lump all laptops together by operating system?
That's a completely different report called OS market share. This is a vendor market share report.
 
Don't really like what they have done with the MacBooks. It may be useful for some but I personally feel it's way overpriced for the stuff they put in. Lot of people will make empty arguments about PCs, but i think there is absolutely nothing wrong with those, and i can customize and build with far powerful stuff inside for the price Apple is asking for.
 
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This certainly doesn't mean macOS/OS X runs on 10% of all computers.
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Don't really like what they have done with the MacBooks. It may be useful for some but I personally feel it's way overpriced for the stuff they put in. Lot of people will make empty arguments about PCs, but i think there is absolutely nothing wrong with those, and i can customize and build with far powerful stuff inside for the price Apple is asking for.

The major problem on those pc's, it runs windows so more problems to be expected, this has been proven, but hey, you can look at it positively as well cause if all PC's would run macOS a lot of IT people would loose their jobs.
There's plenty more why MacBooks are far better, for instance the trackpad, No-one in the PC/Windows world has a as good as a Mac trackpad.
Windows Update sucks too, and then there is settings and control panel, what a lot of junk.
But hey, enjoy solving problems while I just use my Mac without worrying.
 
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Since the major PC vendors introduce multiple machines at varying times during the year, they are always refreshing their line ups.

...and always discontinuing older models because they introduce 100 different models with slight variations on the tiniest things like WLAN cards, LCDs or even different shaped chargers.Makes it much more difficult to source parts in the long run, plus they are deemed EOL before you know it. Plus brands like HP lock down the system so it won't boot if you put in "unsupported hardware" - e.g., an 802.11ac card over the shoddy 801.11n cards that a lot of their laptops ship with.

This isn't a positive.


Between the two, I'm much happier with a simplified lineup that is updated annually. That means more consistency with build quality, cheaper production for the manufacturer, parts guaranteed to be manufactured for 5 years, and historically an EOL date of around 5-7 years from last sold.
 
Does anyone know if the keyboard issue where a speck of dust can render a key inoperable has been fixed in production yet?
No, it remains as bad as first generation. I'm tracking this, because the only thing that I hate about my Macbook is the fact that I feel uncomfortable leaving the house for extended periods of time without canned air.

I wonder if "shipped" includes laptops that were returned due to keyboard problems, and required the entire top case replaced, then (I guess) went to be sold as refurbs.
 
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...and always discontinuing older models because they introduce 100 different models with slight variations on the tiniest things like WLAN cards, LCDs or even different shaped chargers.Makes it much more difficult to source parts in the long run, plus they are deemed EOL before you know it. Plus brands like HP lock down the system so it won't boot if you put in "unsupported hardware" - e.g., an 802.11ac card over the shoddy 801.11n cards that a lot of their laptops ship with.

This isn't a positive.


Between the two, I'm much happier with a simplified lineup that is updated annually. That means more consistency with build quality, cheaper production for the manufacturer, parts guaranteed to be manufactured for 5 years, and historically an EOL date of around 5-7 years from last sold.
But Apple doesn’t update all their Macs annually.
 
Apple's market share is growing and that's a good thing. The growth is outpacing individual PC manufacturers, but as far as the ecosystem is concerned, they are still only 10% of the overall PC market. That's weak, which is surprising because macOS has great features, is easier to use in my opinion, and the hardware it runs on is better and retains value longer.

All those things should be important to consumers and businesses. So, what's missing?
 
My personal view:
Cannot speak for others. But love my rMBP. [Now running MacOS 10.13.3, which corrected the glaring problems with the earlier High Sierra releases.]

As comparison, I had the use of a fully-loaded, Dell XPS 9560 at the office, which was made necessary by an asinine Active Directory requirement -- shortly thereafter, I gave this unusable machine away.

It may just be the Dell XPS, but it was total crap with a glitchy touchpad and its labyrinthine WIN10, when compared to the MBP. [So I turned to running Parallels Desktop for Mac to provide WIN10 app compatibility which run the office's WIN10 business apps over the MacOS device handlers.]
 
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So, what's missing?
Lower prices, I think. That market share includes Chromebooks. Apple's idea of a budget laptop is one that starts at €1.097,91 in the Netherlands (Air, of course, rMB starts at 1.497,91). It doesn't matter how much better it is than competition when there's no actual cheap entry point into the system. (The 2014 Mini is not a cheap entry point. If anything, the existence of basic Mini model serves to limit Mac sales.)
 
This certainly doesn't mean macOS/OS X runs on 10% of all computers.
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The major problem on those pc's, it runs windows so more problems to be expected, this has been proven, but hey, you can look at it positively as well cause if all PC's would run macOS a lot of IT people would loose their jobs.
There's plenty more why MacBooks are far better, for instance the trackpad, No-one in the PC/Windows world has a as good as a Mac trackpad.
Windows Update sucks too, and then there is settings and control panel, what a lot of junk.
But hey, enjoy your stuff while I ......

As I said, lot of empty arguments about windows. Windows has issues, and OS X doesn't ? Remember once upon a time Apple used to brag their OS as the most secure in advertisements and then how quickly it went downhill after the exploits to the point where they dropped that statement ?

Agreed Mac has a good trackpad. Anyways I own both, though the Mac Pro is from 2012. Never really found a reason to buy another one after that. I am not a fanboy of either..I like them both, but i want more powerful hardware and i want to be able to switch in and out stuff with upgrades without having to worry about glue nonsense. If apple ever allowed it's OS to run easily on any laptop with same intel architecture, i guarantee they would barely be able to sell any of their laptops.
 
I bet more than 50% of the sales were MacBook Airs. If only they broke down the sales more, i would love to see which is selling more the older MacBook Pro they still sell or the new one?

I like the Touch Bar, just prefer the older keyboards, MagSafe and glowing Apple logo on the lid.
 
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Just think of what Apple could do if they had not dropped computers from their mindset and stopped all development except for essentially leap years.

Yes. Apple Computer becoming Apple Inc. was a dark day for humanity. These numbers are good however. Hopefully people are not migrating to Mac OS as it becomes more Windows like. One never can be certain. ;)
 
My math tells me this will keep apple firmly at a 10% user base. I don't think that is good for apple, at all!

Considering they make most of the money all PC sales generate from that 10% market share, it probably is pretty good for Apple.

For example, #1 in volume HP sold 300% more PCs in 2017 than Apple did Macs. And yet they only generated 30% more total revenue.


I bet more than 50% of the sales were MacBook Airs. If only they broke down the sales more, i would love to see which is selling more the older MacBook Pro they still sell or the new one?

The MacBook Pro is now the best-selling Apple computer per their own statements.
 
IMHO, Macs are the shining star of Apple's overall product lineup. iPhone and iPad have become blah and others have replicated them. Thanks to OS X, it is more difficult to replicate the Mac. I recently purchased a MS Surface Pro and like that one too. But OS X is the better experience overall.
 
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