IDC: Apple hits 8.7% share as fastest growing PC maker in US 4Q sales

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Even without counting iPad sales, IDC's preliminary Q4 2010 report on PC shipments shows Apple experienced the fastest growth in an industry where average growth went negative due to tablet sales.



Apple's Mac sales were enough to take an 8.7 percent share of the US PC market in the fourth quarter, and an 8.8 percent share of PC sales across all of 2010.



IDC reported that "the worldwide PC market continued to slow in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to a softening consumer market, competing products like Media Tablets, and strong year ago sales," carefully avoiding mention of the iPad and excluding it from its PC market figures, which do include netbooks and convertible laptops.



"Despite a holiday season marked by a long promotion cycle and highly competitive price points, the global PC market saw shipments rise only a modest 2.7% year-on-year during the 2010 Fourth Quarter," IDC notes.



PC growth had been projected to hit 5.5%, although the 92.1 million PCs shipped in the quarter still amounted to the largest ever. Over the entire year, PC shipments hit 346.2 million, an increase of 13.6% over 2009.



US PC market shrinks in 4Q



In the US however, the PC market actually contracted by 4.8% in Q4, leaving only fifth ranked Apple (up 15.2 percent, with an estimated sales of 1.7 million Macs) and third place Toshiba (up 14.4 percent, with 1.97 million computers) as the only two top five PC makers in the US market to actually grow their sales year over year.



First place HP shrank by 5.3 percent to ship 5.72 million PCs, while second place Dell was down 5.4 percent on sales of 4.37 million units. Other PC makers in the US market shipped a total of 4.43 million machines, down 4.4 percent from last year.



David Daoud, IDC's research director, noted that "the US market was expected to shrink year over year given the exploding growth of the year-ago quarter (4Q09)," but explained that "growth has been steadily slowing throughout the year as weakening demand and competition from the Apple iPad constrain PC shipments."







Mysterious PC market stall affects everyone but Apple



Daoud added that "in addition to relatively high market penetration and 'good-enough' computing, consumers are spending less than they used to, and competing devices added competition for consumer dollars. This situation is likely to persist in 2011, if not get worse as a wave of Media Tablets could put a dent on the traditional PC market."



Research analyst Jay Chou said that "consumer fatigue is playing an important role in many markets as the Mini Notebook surge wanes and consumers watch their spending and evaluate other products." IDC's report added that the firm expects "roughly flat growth in the first half of 2011 before the market picks up speed again."



IDC specifically noted that HP faced a "challenging quarter in the US" as sales of Mini Notebook PCs (formerly called netbooks) slowed, while both it and Dell attempted to stake out growth in emerging markets to offset the "stalled US market."



Acer, "after a strong run through 2009," was "affected by lackluster sales of Mini Notebook PCs, and slowing consumer demand across many markets." IDC did not specifically attribute the marked drop in Acer's netbook sales to the iPad, as Acer itself has. Acer acquired Gateway/Packard Bell in 2008.



Lenovo "generally grew well above market at just over 21%," IDC reported, noting "improvement in garnering commercial projects and disciplined approach to region-specific initiatives."



IDC also pointed out that Toshiba "shipped 12% more than the same time last year, as one of the few top vendors managing double digit growth in the US," without mentioning in its report notes that its own numbers detailed that Apple outpaced Toshiba and the rest of the industry in US 4Q sales, even without counting the iPad and its devastating blow to netbook and conventional PC sales.



2010 US PC sales



Throughout all of 2010, the US PC market grew by 5.7 percent, with Toshiba initially taking the lead in growth in fourth place with 18.4 percent more PC sales of 6.62 million. Apple was closely behind in fifth place with 18.4 percent growth on sales of 6.59 million Macs.



First place HP grew by 3.8 percent to sell 19.49 million computers, while second place Dell struggled to reach 1.5 percent growth on sales of 17.35 million PCs. Acer grew by just 0.2 percent the entire year, reaching PC sales of 8.01 million.







Global PC sales



Outside the US, PC vendors in Q4 grew sales by just 2.7 percent, with fourth place Lenovo reaching sales of 9.56 million PCs, growth of 21.1 percent over the previous year ago quarter. First place HP contracted by 0.9 percent with quarterly sales of 19.96 million PCs, while second place Dell grew by 4.2 percent globally, reaching 11.14 million in sales.



Third place Acer shrunk globally by a whopping 15 percent, falling to 9.78 million in global PC sales, while fifth place Toshiba grew by 12.1 percent to reach sales of 5.45 million PCs.



Across the entire year, PC vendors grew by an average of 13.6 percent. HP remains the largest PC maker globally this year with 18.5 percent of the market, while Dell and Acer are nearly tied at 12.5 and 12.3 percent share, respectively.



Lenovo has 9.9 percent share of the global market, Toshiba has 5.5 percent, and remaining vendors make up 41.3 percent of all sales.





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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Is there still any question about netbooks taking a hit?
  • Reply 2 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    Apple's Mac sales were enough to take an 8.7 percent share of the US PC market in the fourth quarter, and an 8.8 percent share of PC sales across all of 2010.








    Only 8.n%? I thought that Apple had reached 10% market penetration a while ago? At only 8% growth, won't they have a shrinking share of the user base?"
  • Reply 3 of 36
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Is there still any question about netbooks taking a hit?



    More importantly is there still any question that Apple has caught the competition with its pants down around its knees. We're now a year out from the iPad introduction and there isn't a shipping product to compete against it. The Galaxy Tab is about all there is and it isn't much. Now we read that Asus is delaying its tablets and they probably won't ship with Android 3.0. So Asus, Asus?, can't even get a knock-off copy out the door?! The iPad2 is probably on its way, CES has ended with a lot of bluster and vaporware, and Steve Ballmer bellows "Windows on every device!"



    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept? Apple's quarterly report next week looks like it will astound and amaze once again. And I just happened to notice that Apple is worth three times more than Verizon in market capitalization. Anybody remember what the ratio was back in 2007 when Verizon told Steve to take a hike?
  • Reply 4 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Is there still any question about netbooks taking a hit?



    The question is what kind of hit. From what I have read (not here from DED) netbooks sold more in 2010 than 2009 so they grew. However they grew slower than 2008 to 2009.



    Its all how you spin it. The iPad should gow at a crazy rate for 2-4 more years and then slow.
  • Reply 5 of 36
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept?



    I think that question really answered itself. The industry prior to Apple shaking everything up was stillborn and in a state of stagnation. No innovation and no incentive to improve anything. They got lazy, fed the public propaganda, and their entire industry essentially got locked in a self-defeating cycle.



    Apple had the insight and vision to see what was happening around them and like a skilled surgeon, sliced it open and methodically took everything apart. A billion-dollar corporation acting like a garage startup.



    I think they are all simply scratching their heads, pacing up and down the hallways in disbelief wondering how are they going to convince their shareholders as to why they should continue having them employed.
  • Reply 6 of 36
    Despite being a huge Apple fan and owner of 2 Macs, an iPad, iPhone, and 2 iPods, I actually DON'T want Apple's market share to get any bigger because I don't want viruses/malware written for OS X to become a problem. I'm fine with just cruising along under the radar as we are now, and having the ability to run Windows in case we really need to run that one program that doesn't have an OS X version.
  • Reply 7 of 36
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CEOstevie View Post


    Only 8.n%? I thought that Apple had reached 10% market penetration a while ago? At only 8% growth, won't they have a shrinking share of the user base?"



    You got it! Apple is doomed!!!1! They should sell everything and return the money to...



    Back to reality: Is there a term for trolls who just pop up over and over again despite being banned?

    I propose zombie trolls.
  • Reply 8 of 36
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept?



    One could argue that is the true sign of greatness when the others can't even walk in a straight line.



    Quote:

    Apple's quarterly report next week looks like it will astound and amaze once again. And I just happened to notice that Apple is worth three times more than Verizon in market capitalization. Anybody remember what the ratio was back in 2007 when Verizon told Steve to take a hike?



    Start of 2007 it was around 25, up to 35 when the iPhone was released, and hitting a recent-history peak at the end of 2007 at 45 or so. After the first crash of the great recession in the first quarter of 2008, the PE was around 25.



    Wow... if they hit a PE of 25 after reporting FQ1 earnings they would be up almost $100 to $440.75 by my estimates. At a PE of 35... can I buy a little island and retire then..?
  • Reply 9 of 36
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by IlikeAppel View Post


    Despite ... I actually DON'T want Apple's market share to get any bigger because I don't want viruses/malware written for OS X to become a problem.



    Do you have Flash enabled on your Mac?



    It seems like viruses are becoming more surgical rather than taking the old sledgehammer approach now. If there is a bug in Flash that lets a "bad guy" see what OS and patch level you are at, they can deploy that toolkit to hack you. The question is all about ROI; how much effort is it worth for spam... vs how much effort is it worth to control your bank accounts?



    It is a losing battle, and market share really isn't a controlling factor. If I were out to get rich off writing viruses and hacking computers, I would focus on the most expensive computers, in the hopes that the users have more money to siphon off...
  • Reply 10 of 36
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bageljoey View Post


    You got it! Apple is doomed!!!1! They should sell everything and return the money to...



    Back to reality: Is there a term for trolls who just pop up over and over again despite being banned?

    I propose zombie trolls.



    Whack-a-mole-troll
  • Reply 11 of 36
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by IlikeAppel View Post


    Despite being a huge Apple fan and owner of 2 Macs, an iPad, iPhone, and 2 iPods, I actually DON'T want Apple's market share to get any bigger because I don't want viruses/malware written for OS X to become a problem. I'm fine with just cruising along under the radar as we are now, and having the ability to run Windows in case we really need to run that one program that doesn't have an OS X version.



    Selling over 90% of all consumer PCs over $1000 is a huge target. Selling 20M units a year is a huge target. Windows is surely bigger, but Mac OS X isn?t getting 8% of the viruses. Hell, there were more viruses for Mac OS in the 90s when they less marketshare and sold less units in a year than they now sell in a quarter.
  • Reply 12 of 36
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept? Apple's quarterly report next week looks like it will astound and amaze once again. And I just happened to notice that Apple is worth three times more than Verizon in market capitalization. Anybody remember what the ratio was back in 2007 when Verizon told Steve to take a hike?



    I think we're seeing the inevitable result of a commodity market with razor thin margins. These PC makers have been relying on volume to eke out a bit of profit on cheap boxes.



    As such, they don't really have much incentive to invest in R&D or innovation of any sort. They've been entirely at the mercy of MS to generate sales through whatever the latest wrinkle in Windows might be, or the occasional entirely cosmetic variant in form factor. That, and "specs", which is nothing that any other manufacturer can't match.



    When Apple pulls a rabbit out their hat, they have no choice but to wait for someone else to put together some software so they can wrap some hardware around it-- hardware that's unlikely to distinguish itself from any other manufacturers offering aside for some trivial design cues or the odd "feature."



    Imagine how bad it would be if these parts assemblers didn't have Google to take up the slack for MS as we move into the new, post desktop paradigm. Even so, nothing's really changed. They're still going to be in a race to the bottom to shave pennies off hardware running someone else's OS, with little to no control over their own destiny beyond price cutting. If Google gets content with Android penetration and slows the pace of development, these manufacturers will be left with nothing to sell but low margin me-too devices (if that isn't the case already).



    Next time Apple throws a change up, these same players are absolutely going to be caught flat footed again. How could they not? Does anyone imagine that Acer or Asus or Dell or HP or Samsung are doing any kind of basic research into new devices, or new ways to think about personal computing? I can guarantee you Apple is.
  • Reply 13 of 36
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I think we're seeing the inevitable result of a commodity market with razor thin margins. These PC makers have been relying on volume to eke out a bit of profit on cheap boxes.



    As such, they don't really have much incentive to invest in R&D or innovation of any sort. They've been entirely at the mercy of MS to generate sales through whatever the latest wrinkle in Windows might be, or the occasional entirely cosmetic variant in form factor. That, and "specs", which is nothing that any other manufacturer can't match.



    [?]



    We?re finally seeing the longterm effects an illegal monopoly can have on a market.
  • Reply 14 of 36
    pokepoke Posts: 506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    More importantly is there still any question that Apple has caught the competition with its pants down around its knees. We're now a year out from the iPad introduction and there isn't a shipping product to compete against it. The Galaxy Tab is about all there is and it isn't much. Now we read that Asus is delaying its tablets and they probably won't ship with Android 3.0. So Asus, Asus?, can't even get a knock-off copy out the door?! The iPad2 is probably on its way, CES has ended with a lot of bluster and vaporware, and Steve Ballmer bellows "Windows on every device!"



    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept? Apple's quarterly report next week looks like it will astound and amaze once again. And I just happened to notice that Apple is worth three times more than Verizon in market capitalization. Anybody remember what the ratio was back in 2007 when Verizon told Steve to take a hike?



    Look at the speculation before the iPad was released. It was all about a tablet running OS X. The level of disappointment among the tech crowd was palpable. They thought it was a toy. (Personally it was exactly what I was expecting it to be but I only saw a handful of others expressing the same sentiment.) In that sense, I don't think there was ever any question that the competition had completely failed to anticipate what Apple was going to do. Afterwards, the consensus was that Apple had made a big mistake. Then the thing went on sale, it was an immediate success and everything changed.



    I think all of these iPad competitors have been in development for 6-8 months max.
  • Reply 15 of 36
    macnycmacnyc Posts: 342member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    The question is what kind of hit. From what I have read (not here from DED) netbooks sold more in 2010 than 2009 so they grew. However they grew slower than 2008 to 2009.



    Where did you read that?
  • Reply 16 of 36
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    Quote:

    competing products like Media Tablets



    Do industry analysts get paid to intentionally give LESS information to people, by taking a specific fact (massive iPad sales) and disguising it in vague terms?
  • Reply 17 of 36
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    I think we're seeing the inevitable result of a commodity market with razor thin margins. These PC makers have been relying on volume to eke out a bit of profit on cheap boxes.



    As such, they don't really have much incentive to invest in R&D or innovation of any sort. They've been entirely at the mercy of MS to generate sales through whatever the latest wrinkle in Windows might be, or the occasional entirely cosmetic variant in form factor. That, and "specs", which is nothing that any other manufacturer can't match.



    When Apple pulls a rabbit out their hat, they have no choice but to wait for someone else to put together some software so they can wrap some hardware around it-- hardware that's unlikely to distinguish itself from any other manufacturers offering aside for some trivial design cues or the odd "feature."



    Imagine how bad it would be if these parts assemblers didn't have Google to take up the slack for MS as we move into the new, post desktop paradigm. Even so, nothing's really changed. They're still going to be in a race to the bottom to shave pennies off hardware running someone else's OS, with little to no control over their own destiny beyond price cutting. If Google gets content with Android penetration and slows the pace of development, these manufacturers will be left with nothing to sell but low margin me-too devices (if that isn't the case already).



    Next time Apple throws a change up, these same players are absolutely going to be caught flat footed again. How could they not? Does anyone imagine that Acer or Asus or Dell or HP or Samsung are doing any kind of basic research into new devices, or new ways to think about personal computing? I can guarantee you Apple is.



    It's not as if they ever did any R&D! Be it a Netscape or an Apple or countless others they raped, the MS and PC juggernaut was a plunder machine that has finally run out of defenseless victims.
  • Reply 18 of 36
    co4ndco4nd Posts: 11member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CEOstevie View Post


    Only 8.n%? I thought that Apple had reached 10% market penetration a while ago? At only 8% growth, won't they have a shrinking share of the user base?"



    I don't think they've had 10% unless your talking web tracking statistics. Mac users have always had a larger representation on the Web than their actual market penetration.
  • Reply 19 of 36
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by co4nd View Post


    I don't think they've had 10% unless your talking web tracking statistics. Mac users have always had a larger representation on the Web than their actual market penetration.



    Not to mention a vastly larger percentage of home use, by some accounts nearing 25% in the US. God knows what that figure would be if you included iPads, since I've seen reports that including iPads in PC sales figures would make Apple the number one computer vendor in the US overall.



    However, I am curious about this IDC number, since IDC themselves reported that Apple had a 10.6 share in the third quarter. Since this report remarks on Apple's growth relative to the industry, how is it that their current share is actually smaller? Doesn't add up.
  • Reply 20 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Is Apple really that good or are they (the "competition") really that stupid and inept?



    It's the same in every other marketplace, marketplaces much more important than consumer electronics and computers. All the essential mainstream products and information sources are locked down by bribery, corruption and worse.



    Food and medical industries are full of cheap junk that often does more harm than good, energy industry is totally corrupt, education of necessity has become a means of indoctrination with falsehoods otherwise people could see through it all more quickly, for most folks it takes half a lifetime to begin to understand how manipulated by morons it all is.



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0



    "The longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize, something is fucked up."



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o



    .
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