Mac sales grow 11.8% as Apple takes 9.4% U.S. market share

[AppleInsider]

Mac sales saw double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2009, maintaining Apple's position as the fourth-largest U.S. PC manufacturer, according to new data released Wednesday from IDC.

IDC

Overall, Apple came in fourth for U.S. vendors, selling an estimated 1.64 million Macs stateside during the frame. That's up 11.8 percent from the 1.47 million the company sold in the same frame one year prior.

Last quarter, IDC reported that Apple shipped 1.2 million computers in the U.S., a year-over-year decline of 12.4 percent. That was good for a 7.6 percent stateside market share, in terms of shipments.

Overall, the U.S. PC market grew an estimated 2.5 percent. The bulk of that came from portable machines, as netbooks continue to grow in popularity, IDC said. In the U.S. in particular, consumers gravitated toward low-cost machines to save money on back to school purchases.

"Despite a continuing mix of gloom and caution on the economic front, the PC market continues to rebound quickly," said Loren Loverde, program director for IDC's Tracker Program. "The competitive landscape, including transition to portables, new and low-power designs, growth in retail and consumer segments, and the impact of falling prices are reflected in the gains by HP and Acer, as well as overall market growth."

Leading the domestic pack was HP, which held a 25.5 percent market share with 4.47 million PCs shipped. Close on its heels was Dell, which took 25 percent of the market, but was down 13.4 percent from a year prior. The second-largest computer maker sold 4.37 million units.

In third was Acer, which achieved staggering year-over-year growth of 48.3 percent. The netbook maker shipped an estimated 1.95 million units to take an 11.1 percent share of the US market, up from 1.31 million units during the year-ago quarter.

Behind Apple, in fifth place, was Toshiba, which shipped 1.43 million units during the frame, good for an 8.1 percent share. All other PC manufacturers combined accounted for 20.9 percent, with 3.66 million units shipped.

Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q09 (Thousands of Units) | Source: IDC

In all, 17.5 million PCs were shipped in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2009.

Worldwide, the top vendor was again HP, with 15.79 total million units shipped, giving it a 20.2 percent share. Acer's strong quarter propelled it to No. 2, moving 11 million units, a 25.6 percent increase from last year. Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba rounded out the top five globally.

Total worldwide PC shipments grew 2.3 percent year over year during the third quarter, to 78.1 million units. It was a positive result worldwide, as all regions either met or exceeded expectations, with the exception of Japan.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q09 (Thousands of Units) | Source: IDC

"The continued strength of both the US and worldwide PC business in the face of difficult economic environments underscores the value that both consumer and corporate buyers place on PCs," said to Bob O’Donnell, vice president, Clients and Displays. "With the forthcoming launch of Windows 7 and expected commercial refresh beginning in 2010, the prospects for future PC market growth are very solid."

Gartner

Market research firm Gartner also released its preliminary sales figures Wednesday. Their totals also placed Apple as the fourth-largest U.S. PC maker, but with overall slightly lower numbers.

Gartner estimated that Apple sold 1.57 million Macs during the third quarter stateside, good for an 8.8 percent market share. That amounts to a year-over-year increase of 6.8 percent.

Last quarter, the firm said Apple had an 8.7 percent share of the U.S. computer market, moving 1.42 million total Macs in America.

In Gartner's estimate, Dell was the top domestic PC maker in the third quarter, with a 26.2 percent share of sales. The company shipped an estimated 4.67 PCs during the frame, off 8.9 percent from a year prior.

HP came in second, with a 25.7 percent share and 4.57 PCs shipped. That's a 2.7 percent increase from the third quarter of 2008.

The firm also recorded Acer's explosive growth, with the company growing 61.4 percent year-over year to ship 2.5 million machines in the U.S. in the September quarter. Acer, in third, as 13.9 percent of the domestic market.

Coming in fifth stateside was Toshiba, selling 1.4 million machines good for an 8 percent share. Overall, sales increased in the U.S. 3.9 percent, with 17.81 million PCs shipped.

Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q09 (Thousands of Units) | Source: Gartner

"The consumer mobile PC market drove U.S. shipment growth in the third quarter of 2009, fueled by back to school sales," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "However, the results came with a revenue loss because of very steep declines in average selling prices (ASPs). Consumers were comfortable buying PCs, but they were relentlessly looking for bargains. Our preliminary research shows consumer mobile PC ASPs declined more than 20 percent compared to a year ago."

Globally, the firm estimated a small 0.5 percent growth, with 80.86 million total PCs shipped. HP was the top global producer, with 16.12 million of those, good for a 19.9 percent overall share. HP's share in the third quarter grew 9 percent year over year.

Shipping 12.48 million units during the frame was second-place Acer, which grew 23.6 percent worldwide from a year before. In third, fourth and fifth, respectively, were Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q09 (Thousands of Units) | Source: Gartner

Gartner has predicted that the launch of Windows 7 will not have a major impact on future growth of PC sales. However, inventory adjustments could skew shipment totals higher.

"Recent OS releases have not been a growth driver in the PC market, however the timing of Windows 7's is favorable for the industry due to expected economic improvements and an overdue hardware replacement cycle," Kitagawa said. "We anticipate renewed interest in hardware upgrades from consumers and small business during the holiday season as a result Windows 7’s release. In the corporate market, Windows 7 adoption is not expected to ramp up until late 2010."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[anantksundaram]

Let the whining begin about: (i) How Apple went from third place to fourth; (ii) how Apple hasn't still cracked double digits in share.

[dreyfus2]

Has this been checked for "rounding errors"

As Apple has only cut prices rather mildly, while Acer, Dell and HP continue to sell loads of items for next to nothing... this result is impressive.

[sflocal]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Let the whining begin about: (i) How Apple went from third place to fourth; (ii) how Apple hasn't still cracked double digits in share.

More specifically, let the whiners whine about how if THEY were running Apple, they would do a better job of it.

Guess all those glossy screens, "underpowered" iMacs, locked-in iPhones, etc., just means Apple has no clue what the consumer wants.

Let's see what sort of self-inflated flak Teckstud, NonVendorFan, and other Teckstud aliases come up with.

[elroth]

Originally Posted by sflocal

More specifically, let the whiners whine about how if THEY were running Apple, they would do a better job of it.

Guess all those glossy screens, "underpowered" iMacs, locked-in iPhones, etc., just means Apple has no clue what the consumer wants.

Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Let the whining begin about: (i) How Apple went from third place to fourth; (ii) how Apple hasn't still cracked double digits in share.

No whining necessary. But just look at the numbers for Acer for the answer to any of your questions.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by elroth

Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.

So, what are you using instead, for a computer?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by elroth

Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.

Me too.

[Dr Millmoss]

Forget rank, which is meaningless. Consider instead that Apple accounted for over 40% of the industry's unit growth during the year, and also if you take Apple out and count just the Windows PC industry, their sales grew by only 1.6% overall.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

So, what are you using instead, for a computer?

I'm using the classic beautiful, white iMac with matching white cords and white mouse and matte screen.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by sflocal

More specifically, let the whiners whine about how if THEY were running Apple, they would do a better job of it.

Guess all those glossy screens, "underpowered" iMacs, locked-in iPhones, etc., just means Apple has no clue what the consumer wants.

Let's see what sort of self-inflated flak Teckstud, NonVendorFan, and other Teckstud aliases come up with.

It's so obvious that Apple should have had an answer to Acer netbooks like 2 years ago. They have infiltrated the consciousness of the youth today - they all have them.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by sflocal

Guess all those glossy screens, "underpowered" iMacs, locked-in iPhones, etc., just means Apple has no clue what the consumer wants.

That obviously lumps all consumers into one category. Bear in mind that although the share is not that low relative to the other manufacturers, those other manufacturers combined all offer significantly more options than Apple and for the 9% that went with Apple, 91% went without for one reason or another. So to define 'what consumers want' to be what Apple offer when their share goes up a point or two, isn't entirely a good measure.

If they lowered prices a bit, they hit a larger demographic, if they introduce an overpowered cube on top of the current models, they hit a larger market, if they unlock iphones, they hit a lager market. As I say, to suggest that they are doing something right by not doing these things simply because their share goes up a bit is plain wrong when every one of the changes would unquestionably increase marketshare.

All these figures prove is that Apple is gaining in popularity little by little but in the end the majority still opt for Windows PCs because they can afford them and they get options.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

No whining necessary. But just look at the numbers for Acer for the answer to any of your questions.

I can see you playing the roll of Steve Balmer on stage.

(jumping up and down with abandon, with tongue sticking out and waving his hand behind his ears)

NETBOOKS, NETBOOKS, NETBOOKS!!!

[TBell]

Netbooks skew the numbers. What is to say, an iPod Touch shouldn't be counted as a mini Mac? If so, Apple's numbers would be much greater.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

In third was Acer, which achieved staggering year-over-year growth of 48.3 percent. The netbook maker shipped 1.95 million units to take an 11.1 percent share of the US market, up from 1.31 million units during the year-ago quarter

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by melgross

I can see you playing the roll of Steve Balmer on stage.

(jumping up and down with abandon, with tongue sticking out and waving his hand behind his ears)

NETBOOKS, NETBOOKS, NETBOOKS!!!

I WOULDN'T LAUGH AT 48.3% GROWTH IF I WERE YOU- looks rather FOOLISH.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It's so obvious that Apple should have had an answer to Acer netbooks like 2 years ago. They have infiltrated the consciousness of the youth today - they all have them.

That's absurd.

Even Michael Dell just said in a speech that netbooks were ruining the industry.

There's almost no profit in them, and PC manufacturers are frantic about what to do about it.

[sflocal]

Originally Posted by elroth

Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.

I rest my case.

Nothing personal, it's just that Apple thinks more of what the consumer-mass wants rather than focus on the smaller, more vocal, and less-profitable 1% segment.

Perhaps they may introduce a matte-screen but I would think it will be merely a slapped-on film. I personally love the glossy screens and it seems, the majority of folks do too.

[Dr Millmoss]

Originally Posted by Marvin

All these figures prove is that Apple is gaining in popularity little by little but in the end the majority still opt for Windows PCs because they can afford them and they get options.

Allow me to be the first to say that this doesn't matter. The important thing is that Apple is growing computer sales at a far better rate than the Windows PC industry. This has been going on for several years now.

[DKWalsh4]

Originally Posted by sflocal

Let's see what sort of self-inflated flak Teckstud, NonVendorFan, and other Teckstud aliases come up with.

You're giving NVF way too much credit

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by TBell

Netbooks skew the numbers. What is to say, an iPod Touch shouldn't be counted as a mini Mac? If so, Apple's numbers would be much greater.

Can it run more than one application at once? Can it print? Can you do spreadsheets on it and read full page pdfs?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by melgross

That's absurd.

Even Michael Dell just said in a speech that netbooks were ruining the industry.

There's almost no profit in them, and PC manufacturers are frantic about what to do about it.

Tell it to Acer- I bet they're pretty happy with those numbers.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Marvin

That obviously lumps all consumers into one category. Bear in mind that although the share is not that low relative to the other manufacturers, those other manufacturers combined all offer significantly more options than Apple and for the 9% that went with Apple, 91% went without for one reason or another. So to define 'what consumers want' to be what Apple offer when their share goes up a point or two, isn't entirely a good measure.

If they lowered prices a bit, they hit a larger demographic, if they introduce an overpowered cube on top of the current models, they hit a larger market, if they unlock iphones, they hit a lager market. As I say, to suggest that they are doing something right by not doing these things simply because their share goes up a bit is plain wrong when every one of the changes would unquestionably increase marketshare.

All these figures prove is that Apple is gaining in popularity little by little but in the end the majority still opt for Windows PCs because they can afford them and they get options.

If Apple hit say, 30% marketshare, they would have to bend more than they do now in order to continue moving the numbers upwards.

But, consumers might also bend a bit to buy into Apple's philosophy.

There would be a compromise.

Are "open" phones doing better? No.

It's difficult to change computer OS's, but not difficult to do so with phones.

So we're seeing a 30% share for the iPhone in the US in the smartphone category.

Computer marketshare increases will be slower.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by sflocal

I personally love the glossy screens and it seems, the majority of folks do too.

How would you know since matte isn't offered?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by sflocal

I rest my case.

Nothing personal, it's just that Apple thinks more of what the consumer-mass wants rather than focus on the smaller, more vocal, and less-profitable 1% segment.

Perhaps they may introduce a matte-screen but I would think it will be merely a slapped-on film. I personally love the glossy screens and it seems, the majority of folks do too.

If they follow what they did with the new Macbook Pro's, they will use the same LEC panel, but with a matter surface, and eliminate the glass entirely. That's what I bought my daughter (shock!)

You can't slap a matte screen over the glass, it would obscure the detail and cause flare.

[DKWalsh4]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Tell it to Acer- I bet they're pretty happy with those numbers.

They may be happy with those numbers, as market share does count. But market share means nothing if you're making diddly off each unit sold.

[dreyfus2]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Tell it to Acer- I bet they're pretty happy with those numbers.

Yeah. Check: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?s...A&pid=20601080 for the meat and potatoes.

Watch Dell's and HP's combined market cap for more details.

Selling shiploads of items without profit is not good business. It would eventually be reasonable, if they would create mindshare, but they don't. A Windows machine is a Windows machine is a Windows machine... people won't buy Acer's high end models, just because they liked their netbook.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by melgross

If they follow what they did with the new Macbook Pro's, they will use the same LEC panel, but with a matter surface, and eliminate the glass entirely. That's what I bought my daughter (shock!)

You can't slap a matte screen over the glass, it would obscure the detail and cause flare.

You took that jerky comment seriously?
And why did you buy non-glare? Was it her preference?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Tell it to Acer- I bet they're pretty happy with those numbers.

So now you have insight into Acer's home office?

Likely, they're just as frustrated as every other PC manufacturer who is trying to think of a way to convince those netbook buyers into buying a more expensive machine next time.

[DKWalsh4]

Originally Posted by melgross

If they follow what they did with the new Macbook Pro's, they will use the same LEC panel, but with a matter surface, and eliminate the glass entirely. That's what I bought my daughter (shock!)

You can't slap a matte screen over the glass, it would obscure the detail and cause flare.

An emerging technology?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by DKWalsh4

An emerging technology?

Non-glossy glass is a new invention?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by melgross

So now you have insight into Acer's home office?

Likely, they're just as frustrated as every other PC manufacturer who is trying to think of a way to convince those netbook buyers into buying a more expensive machine next time.

OK- so I don't have insight into Acer's home office but you do?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I WOULDN'T LAUGH AT 48.3% GROWTH IF I WERE YOU- looks rather FOOLISH.

Yeah, sure. Cash flow without profits. What every company wants to show its shareholders.

Companies thought this would be good for the recession, and that by now, people would be trading up.

But the lure of lower prices several years ago when laptops became cheap have just continued.

You can continue to site your useless numbers. Netbooks aren't complete computers. They are partial computers. The one I got for my daughter was reviewed in several places as being one of the best and fastest, but it's horribly slow, even with the 2 GB RAM upgrade.

[dreyfus2]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Non-glossy glass is a new invention?

Sure, almost as spectacular as "no glass"

Apple is relaxed about these things. Remove Firewire from MacBooks, bring it back a few months later and call it a new "pro" feature... wouldn't work for anybody else, but Apple gets away with it.

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It's so obvious that Apple should have had an answer to Acer netbooks like 2 years ago. They have infiltrated the consciousness of the youth today - they all have them.

I'm not sure what your point is. Acer runs a low margin, high volume business model where design and manufacturing flaws are less of a concern. The netbook market is perfect for them. Apple runs a lower volume, higher margin model and pay more attention to the details.

What you are saying is like stating:
It's so obvious that BMW should have had an answer to Kia years ago. They have infiltrated the consciousness of the youth today - they all have them.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

How would you know since matte isn't offered?

Because, in the PC world, people love them, and prefer them.

[sflocal]

Originally Posted by Marvin

That obviously lumps all consumers into one category. Bear in mind that although the share is not that low relative to the other manufacturers, those other manufacturers combined all offer significantly more options than Apple and for the 9% that went with Apple, 91% went without for one reason or another. So to define 'what consumers want' to be what Apple offer when their share goes up a point or two, isn't entirely a good measure.

If they lowered prices a bit, they hit a larger demographic, if they introduce an overpowered cube on top of the current models, they hit a larger market, if they unlock iphones, they hit a lager market. As I say, to suggest that they are doing something right by not doing these things simply because their share goes up a bit is plain wrong when every one of the changes would unquestionably increase marketshare.

All these figures prove is that Apple is gaining in popularity little by little but in the end the majority still opt for Windows PCs because they can afford them and they get options.

Marvin - get real. The article clearly states that Apple's sales are growing, especially in an economy where all other players are hanging on by a thread. They are clearly doing something right even in the face of critics / whiners that stand on their wooden-crate pedestals to declare that they are doing everything wrong. That was the point I was making.

Could Apple gain more market share with other changes to their product line? I'm sure they can. Do they want to? Probably not, but maybe later if their research indicates it would be prudent. I'm an AAPL holder and have faith in their ability to do the homework necessary before introducing / changing a product.

You're beating a dead horse when preaching that if they would gain x% more if they do this or that. I'm leaving it up to them to figure it out. So far, they are doing a great job, satisfaction is high, and Apple is priming the young kids to their future products. And more great things I'm sure are in the pipeline. Obviously, it's not good enough for you. I don't think any company could meet the bar you folks are setting it at.

Even as you speak with your dollars, those 1% folks are not making a dent.

The truth hurts doesn't it?

[Garamond]

Originally Posted by elroth

Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.

Your loss, the new iMacs are brilliant in all possible ways.

[anantksundaram]

OK..... yet another thread is getting teckstud-ed again.

See y'all in the next one (or when he goes to sleep or is at work; if he does either).

[solipsism]

Good on Apple, but a little of that marketshare growth is likely a measurable number of PC users waiting for Windows 7 to land before buying a new PC.

As for Acer, good that they have marketshare, but without profit what is the point?

Macs average for $1,500 I once read, while Acer’s netbooks seem to be priced around $300. What percentage of those is profit? Even if Acer has the same percentage of net profit (which I doubt) they would still need to sell 5x as many to equal Apple’s Mac profit.

PS: Let’s not forget that Apple owns 92% of the $1000+ market segment and takes 33¢ of every dollar spent on PCs in the US. Netbooks won’t be hurting either of those things.

Originally Posted by melgross

If Apple hit say, 30% marketshare, they would have to bend more than they do now in order to continue moving the numbers upwards.

That would be 5% more than what HP or Dell have now. Unless Apple started selling $400 notebooks they just couldn’t get those numbers. To get another 5% in the next 5 years I think Apple will have to bend considerably to cheaper, more affordable machines, especially now that disposable netbooks are fudging the numbers.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by teckstud

You took that jerky comment seriously?
And why did you buy non-glare? Was it her preference?

When someone says something, unless I know otherwise, I take it seriously. I take most of your comments seriously, don't I?

As for why I bought my daughter the matte screen, I believe in the truth.

I explained both the benefits of glossy glass, and the downside. I also explained the benefits and downside to matte.

She was torn over which to get. So I told her that rightly or wrongly, most pros are buying, or preferring, the matte screen. So she thought that she should do what the pros were doing as this is her major.