Mac sales grow 11.8% as Apple takes 9.4% U.S. market share
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."
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."
Comments
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Apple would have even more market share if they produced a matte screen iMac - I would have bought one.
Me too.
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.
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.
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.
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!!!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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.