Worldwide Mac Sales Remain Steady in 4Q 2016 Amid Continuing PC Market Decline

[cicalinarrot]

Be serious for one moment, people: this numbers are ridiculous compared to phone sales.
Even if Apple was on top, numbers would be ridiculous. They have no interest in changing a formula that is working to appeal you guys in here, few dozens professional (I guess) who miss the good old Macs.
I wish just like you Apple starts to care about us a little more, but it's no more the same company. They can't do that. It's about money and they did the maths pretty well. Be mature enough to understand this.

 

[Pootmatoot]

A better title: "Apple is sole company to manage anemic growth out of 3rd tier computer vendors."

 

[SaxPlayer]

I can't be bothered to read the existing 6 pages of this thread so I imagine that the following hilarious observation has been made countless times already in the pages that proceed this, but here goes anyway...

JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY MACS THEY'D SELL IF THEY ACTUALLY BOTHERED TO UPDATE THEM ONCE IN A WHILE*

Right, after stating the bleeding obvious, I'm now going away to get on with the rest of my life.

* I have a 3 year old Mac Pro that amusingly is still being sold in exactly the same configurations and identical hardware components today as when I placed my order for one in December 2013. It would be laughable if it wasn't stomach churningly sickening.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Curious why you think a general consumer should use a 5-10" screen with no keyboard or mouse/trackpad as their primary device for basic email, internet browsing, light photo editing and watching videos.

Sure when you're out doing stuff you're not going to lug something bigger than you can fit in a purse/pocket so you'll make compromises and smartphones/tablets are great. But at home? Really?

"Should"? Maybe some people want to, or don't care. Are you a copper? Strange choice of words.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

This is the report TC didn't want us to see. I mean the Mac is still viable?! Who knew! PC users are not dumping their machines for iPads!

Haven't done any research here but seems like Mac unit sales growth and iPad growth are going in opposite directions yet TC sees fit to hold a pillow to Macs. Thankfully consumers are fighting back.

 

[chr1s60]

Curious why you think a general consumer should use a 5-10" screen with no keyboard or mouse/trackpad as their primary device for basic email, internet browsing, light photo editing and watching videos.

Sure when you're out doing stuff you're not going to lug something bigger than you can fit in a purse/pocket so you'll make compromises and smartphones/tablets are great. But at home? Really?

So your entire justification of a general consumer spending hundreds of dollars or even upwards of $1,000 is a mouse and keyboard both of which can be purchased to be used with a tablet for a fraction of the price? Screen size isn't an issue for most iPad/tablet users, especially when combined with the portability aspect. I think most people would rather watch a show at home in bed or somewhere other than at a desk and for that a tablet is extremely more user friendly than a laptop. And to take it a step further, many tablets and services can stream to your tv from your tablet for watching something like YouTube. As for browsing the internet, it is extremely more natural to browse a website using a tablet than a mouse and with the ability to easily zoom in on text and images, it is more user friendly than on a PC.
I personally own a a desktop and a laptop and take advantage of them for different things, but if I were to take away some of the things I use those devices for, I can easily see why a person would stick with a tablet over a computer. A phone is a bit of a stretch still based off size, but tablets are available in very convenient screen sizes.

 

[Septembersrain]

I have a 5 year old HP that's still humming along. Albiet a little slower but no failures of hardware.

I know quite a few people to say HP doesn't make good products but I've always had luck myself.

As for Apple computers, I think unless they make it affordable for me, it'll always be out of my reach. I can't justify over 1k for what I use my laptop for. Got my HP for about $520 with taxes.

 

[chr1s60]

JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY MACS THEY'D SELL IF THEY ACTUALLY BOTHERED TO UPDATE THEM ONCE IN A WHILE*

Right, after stating the bleeding obvious, I'm now going away to get on with the rest of my life.

* I have a 3 year old Mac Pro that amusingly is still being sold in exactly the same configurations and identical hardware components today as when I placed my order for one in December 2013. It would be laughable if it wasn't stomach churningly sickening.

Honestly, to the general computer buying public it probably wouldn't matter much. It would matter to the lower percentage of people that belong in the tech crowd, but your average Joe that walks into the Apple store can hear those same specs on that 2013 machine and have no clue if it is dated or not. Heck, you could probably sell them one from 2007 and the only thing that might throw them off is HD size.
People continue to fail to see that Apple is not in the business of pleasing the super tech savvy people in the computer world. It was made clear quite some time ago that they are all about "cool" factor. I don't understand why people are expecting this to change. Just look at the Mac Pro. The few updates and the fact that it isn't advertised should show you how little they truly care about this group of computer users.

 

[otternonsense]

It's not meant to be a workstation replacement, it's meant to be a PC replacement for the average user. Look at what the average user does with a PC for example, browsing the web, watching videos, listening to music, shopping, maybe a little word processing, in that case the iPad Pro is more than enough to replace that individuals PC.

Only though the iPad Pro was indeed aggressively marketed as a workstation replacement. Besides, even the "average" user would like to eg. be able to export their photo in a comprehensive file format without having to deal with iOS restrictions, or utilize their screen estate more practically than the massive waste of space which are the iOS 10 notification & control centers on the iPad screen.

Apple have said a number of times that they have not interest in doing a hybrid iPad and or touchscreen Mac, they have already said it a number of times and people still won't accept it, so you can't really blame them for that. In my opinion the Mac and the iPad are two separate products that should never be combined and neither should IOS and MacOS.

This argument is about as valid as Apple refusing to release an iPhone screen above 3.5". Then the iPhone 6 "happened", and Apple witnessed the biggest sales boost ever. Yes, to a certain extent, Apple used to stick to its guns and create change as they saw fit instead of adapting to market expectations. This kind of Apple, however, died with Jobs.

 

[SaxPlayer]

Honestly, to the general computer buying public it probably wouldn't matter much. It would matter to the lower percentage of people that belong in the tech crowd, but your average Joe that walks into the Apple store can hear those same specs on that 2013 machine and have no clue if it is dated or not. Heck, you could probably sell them one from 2007 and the only thing that might throw them off is HD size.
People continue to fail to see that Apple is not in the business of pleasing the super tech savvy people in the computer world. It was made clear quite some time ago that they are all about "cool" factor. I don't understand why people are expecting this to change. Just look at the Mac Pro. The few updates and the fact that it isn't advertised should show you how little they truly care about this group of computer users.

I take your point, @chr1s60 For many people 3 year old tech will be just fine. Apple are a business and it's understandable why they're concentrating on the iPhone and other big sellers. However, for a company of Apple's size I can't grasp the fact that they're not also looking after the very tech savvy people that you refer to. Apple aren't a charity and even with out of date computers they're still selling lots of them and no doubt making a decent profit. If they invested just a little bit of their gazillions in updating Mac hardware - CPU, RAM, chipsets and even perhaps ports now and then - then they'd make even more profit from that side of the business. Surely it's a no-brainer?!

It's not as if they're distracted making nice external monitors or reliable routers any more.

Once they start losing desktop owners to other architectures then it's bound to have a detrimental impact on sales of their main sellers.

Right. I said I was going. I am now. ;-)

 

[Workerbee Redux]

Make the following thought experiment: Assume, Apple had never introduced a Mac Mini. Would we complain about Apple as much as we do now (we still would complain about other things)?

I remember the time before the Mac mini very well. From the introduction of the "lamp"-style iMac in 2002 to the first Mac mini 2005, people were complaining about the lack of a "xMac" small profile tower/desktop.

 

[bingeciren]

I'm not negating your use case, your highness. The fact remains that iPad is not the potent workstation replacement Cook &co present it to be. The hardware is there, granted. To me, it all falls flat with iOS -what is ludicrous is to feature the exact same functionality, spatial arrangement and lite apps between a 4.7" phone and a 12" behemoth tablet. Should it run OS X, or at least a variant of it, I'd have jumped on this bandwagon long ago.

I absolutely agree with you and I'm also complaining about the shortcomings of iOS. However, I kind of agree with Cook stating that a common iOS for Mac and iPad is also not optimal. I came to this conclusion when I bought this program called "Duet" and use it to run my Mac from my iPad as an experiment. I tell you it isn't a pleasant experience. For one thing you definitely need an external pointer like a mouse or a trackpad because using the display as a pointer is not practical or easy. Same goes with a separate keyboard for not occupying the screen.

For one thing, I just wish iOS supported scalable and floating windows for true multitasking rather than this hodgepodge split screen nonsense. My next wish is an accessible file system and external peripheral support. Only then perhaps iPad can be in a position to claim to be a PC replacing device.

 

[62tele]

Looks like HP, Lenovo and Dell are also doing well. Despite new MacBook Pros, Apple have only managed 1% increase in marketshare.

Dell have just introduced Kaby Lake laptops, so in the same period, Dell had older laptops.

While, online orders for MacBook Pro 2016 may have broken *online* sale records, in store sales must be slower.

That's pretty selective logic. The new MBP's were not announced until October 27 and initial supplies were constrained. I bought my new MBP at the Apple Store and the supplies were spotty for all but the base model (non-TB). Dell-schmell. I would like to know the numbers from Microsoft branded products. You know, the device that is purportedly setting the standard in innovation and just killing it in the market.

 

[Unami]

This makes sense. The 2012 and 2015 MacBook pros were great updates. Looks like the bump in sales from people waiting for the 2016 release has not materialized yet in this chart.

i think it did, it was just not as big as usual (and counteracting declining overall sales), because a lot of the people waiting for a worthwile update seem to be still waiting. i guess q01/17 will be more telling.

 

[imronburgundy]

I wonder how metrics like these account for custom PC builds, or does the market only care about prebuilts from companies. I feel like there is currently a boom in people building kickass all-in-one desktops that take care of day-to-day tasks as well as top end gaming as well, especially considering how easy it is these days.

 

[brendu]

I'm not negating your use case, your highness. The fact remains that iPad is not the potent workstation replacement Cook &co present it to be. The hardware is there, granted. To me, it all falls flat with iOS -what is ludicrous is to feature the exact same functionality, spatial arrangement and lite apps between a 4.7" phone and a 12" behemoth tablet. Should it run OS X, or at least a variant of it, I'd have jumped on this bandwagon long ago.

Yeah I've never seen Apple advertise the iPad as a workstation replacement. They know some people still need more of a workstation, that's why the Mac exists still and will for many years to come. Bottom line, fewer than 5% of the population need a "workstation" and can get all they need with an iPad.

 

[d0nK]

I don't think we will ever see growth like we have seen over the past decade or so. It seems like more and more of the general consumer population are sticking with their phones or a tablet for all their computer needs. Outside of students and people who work from home, there is a smaller and smaller need for an actual computer every year. There will always be a need for certain professions and hobbies people may have, but to the general person who uses mostly internet and email, there is not much need for a computer anymore.

I would have bought the 15" mbp on it's release if it was £1700 and not £2700. The price hike is truly unacceptable for most people.

 

[imronburgundy]

Thanks for your kind words
But I won't pay 4300$ for old hardware and a Touch Bar

But that's what the collective internet told him circa 2011. Also, at least you should be able to swap out components if any fail out of warranty, unlike the MBP.

 

[RickInHouston]

Please do enjoy the planned obsolescence, commonly conflicting software BIOS and driver update fiascos, coil whine, backlight bleed, near molten lava temperatures, ridiculously loud and constant fan noise, and near certainty of some hardware failure after initial warranty expires.

You have certainly been "ripped a new one" with multiple problems. If it were that bad it would be front and center on every website in tech.

 

[TechGeek76]

The headline says "Mac sales remains steady" - what part of that is inconsistent with a couple other companies gaining share?

And it also says "Amid Continuing PC Market Decline"

 

[theluggage]

So your entire justification of a general consumer spending hundreds of dollars or even upwards of $1,000 is a mouse and keyboard both of which can be purchased to be used with a tablet for a fraction of the price?

iOS doesn't support a mouse, and (as both Jobs and Cook have said) the ergonomics of using a touchscreen in "laptop mode" with a keyboard are awful. The only real contenders to the iPad in the "PC-replacement" tablet stakes are 2-in-ones running full Windows, especially the MS Surface Pro (which you rarely see advertised without the "optional" keyboard & costs laptop-level prices).

I personally own a a desktop and a laptop and take advantage of them for different things,

Exactly - I've got a desktop, a laptop, a tablet and a phone and use them for different things. All of my colleagues have a laptop (with a large monitor on their desk) and a tablet and a phone. Guess what - modern laptops, phones and tablets are so small and light that people don't balk at taking all three on a trip.

"Pure" tablets simply aren't replacing laptops/desktops as primary workhorses for people who use computers heavily: they may be replacing people's second/third computers, or some home computers just used for cat videos and Twitbook (mostly, not the sort of customers looking at top-end MacBook Pros) but I see absolutely no sign of laptops going away any time soon.

However, I kind of agree with Cook stating that a common iOS for Mac and iPad is also not optimal.

...true. I think there's a lot of sense in the way Apple assume that people will have both iPad and Mac, and aim to make interworking seamless. The problem with that is that Apple's own productivity apps simply aren't that good and are Apple only. In the real world, like it or lump it, Mac users need to interact with people using PCs and/or Microsoft/Adobe/Google software... and no, importing/exporting complex documents in Office format doesn't work.

Yeah I've never seen Apple advertise the iPad as a workstation replacement.

How about when Tim Cook stood up, waved his iPad and asked why anybody would want to use a PC?

 

[brendu]

How about when Tim Cook stood up, waved his iPad and asked why anybody would want to use a PC?

You're grasping. He didn't say, "no one needs a Mac Pro anymore because this iPad Pro is the ultimate workstation". The case they were making, and it's a fair case to make is that the pc market in the $400-$1000 price range is full of customers who could very easily get by with an iPad and in my opinion an iPad is a much more enjoyable device for $400-$700 than pretty much any windows laptop in the price range for the overwhelming majority of casual uses.

I'm not debating there is a place for the traditional computer and even the giant workstation tower, simply that most people really can do everything they want with an iPad. I don't know why that gets people on these forums so angry.

 

[bruceosx]

7.5% MacOS worldwide marketshare, the rest are almost entirely Windows-based products ("Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums"). i'd think about that for a second...

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I'm not sure that I'll ever buy another PC/Mac device again. I rarely ever use my Mac. I don't need it for any sort of professional device. It's purely for consumption. The primary reason I use it now is for a larger screen and for ease of typing.


Not only that but my 2013 MBA is working like an absolute champ. Considering how it's as powerful as the MacBook I think it's pretty safe to assume my computer will be good for another 6 or so years. It's difficult to imagine needing a computer in 2023.

 

[manu chao]

Make the following thought experiment: Assume, Apple had never introduced the iPhone. Would we complain about Apple as much as we do now (we still would complain about other things)?

You are making my point. If Apple had never introduced the iPhone, things would have been very different. If Apple had never introduced the Mac Mini, very little would be different.
[doublepost=1484235216][/doublepost]

I know it did for me. Switched from a 2014 rMBP to a Lenovo for college. Mac doesn't offer anything over a decent PC for the massive price over a similar spec machine.
[doublepost=1484196417][/doublepost]

If they had never made the Mac Mini then their entry level computer would be 1500$ iMac stuffed with 500$ laptop parts. Even with the display, its not a 1500$ computer.

You are forgetting the $1000-ish laptops Apple has been offering for quite a while.