After a terrible quarter, China PC market recovery will mainly benefit Apple

AppleInsider

New research says that overall desktop, laptop, and tablet sales have declined in China, but Apple saw growth -- and will be the main beneficiary of an expected recovery.

A current 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max

Canalys has previously reported that the Apple Watch Ultra drove significant growth in China's wearables market during 2022. Now it's seeing growth for Apple across desktops and particularly notebooks, although in both cases that's from what's currently a small share.

"Canalys expects PC (desktop, notebook and workstation) shipments to stabilize in 2023, with around 48.3 million shipments to maintain a similar shipment level to 2022," says the company. "The commercial sector will bounce by 10% in 2023, thanks to the gradual recovery of the local economy and business activities."

"In the notebook segment," it continued, "Apple's upcoming MacBook (2023) and its efforts to push into enterprises will enhance the MacOS market share with nearly 16% shipment growth expected in 2023."

Apple does not break the top five list of vendors for desktop and notebook shipments, according to Canalys figures which just include the company under "Other." The top seller for 2022 was Lenovo, which declined 15.5% YoY to around 19 million devices.

For tablets, however, Apple tops the analysts' figures for Q4 2022 shipments. Some 2.7 million iPads were sold in mainland China, making a growth YoY of 72.9%.

Stabilizing sales in 2023, recovery in 2024

Despite the expectation that an Apple laptop will do well, the company believes overall notebook sales will decline before the market recovers.

"Canalys expects desktops (including desktop workstations) to grow by 15% in 2023, to reach 17.3 million units," writes the company, "while notebooks (including mobile workstations) will decline by 7% to 30.9 million units."

Curiously, Canalys says only "upcoming MacBook," it doesn't specify MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. There has already been a 2023 MacBook Pro, so presumably the company is referring to this plus a forthcoming MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air might fit better with the firm's belief that consumer demand will recover after business buying does.

"The mid-term outlook of the PC market will hinge on the return of business and consumer confidence," says Canalys analyst Emma Xu, "as the newly formed government vows to drive consumption and increase disposable income as a priority in 2023."

Source: Canalys

However, first Canalys expects to see the "consumer segment...still experience a 9% drop, as recovery is not expected until the fourth quarter."

This new report does not cover smartphone sales, which might be expected to see recovering consumer demand. However, analyst Xu does believe that the interconnected nature of Apple's ecosystem will prove to be an advantage.

"Consumer awareness of the 'connected device ecosystem' will continue to rise," writes Xu. "Vendors focusing on user experience across devices will likely attract the upgraders and younger generation."

Recently Canalys reported on how Apple has arguably captured Generation Z, through this ecosystem.

Read on AppleInsider

melgross

Just because something isn’t called ”Pro” doesn’t mean it isn’t used by business. Most business computer work isn’t much different from consumer work.

blastdoor

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

muthuk_vanalingam

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

danox

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

Apples, powerful low power, energy efficient laptops and iPads (able to be used for long hours without being attached to a plug ) are built, to do well in many areas of the world, and the RESELL VALUE of all Apple products far exceeds most of the other manufacturers, Apple is slowly gaining marketshare in many places around the world, particularly among the upper 10%, that resell value means a market beyond the first purchaser of an Apple product which will pay off for Apple in the long run.

lkrupp

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

If you have to “learn” how to use macOS over Windows you are not very intelligent. The two OS’s are virtually identical from a daily use perspective, especially where Office is concerned. What’s to learn about Drag-N-Drop, Cut-And-Paste, etc. and Desktop interface?

muthuk_vanalingam

lkrupp said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

If you have to “learn” how to use macOS over Windows you are not very intelligent. The two OS’s are virtually identical from a daily use perspective, especially where Office is concerned. What’s to learn about Drag-N-Drop, Cut-And-Paste, etc. and Desktop interface?

danox said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

Apples, powerful low power, energy efficient laptops and iPads (able to be used for long hours without being attached to a plug ) are built, to do well in many areas of the world, and the RESELL VALUE of all Apple products far exceeds most of the other manufacturers, Apple is slowly gaining marketshare in many places around the world, particularly among the upper 10%, that resell value means a market beyond the first purchaser of an Apple product which will pay off for Apple in the long run.

Do you guys understand that Mac OS devices are a very small minority in the computer/laptop segments and that there are reasons for it? I just mentioned two of the key reasons for the same (OS familarity is also related to software availability/familiarity). They are not going to change anytime soon even if you wish/think that they are not factors.

FileMakerFeller

muthuk_vanalingam said:

lkrupp said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

If you have to “learn” how to use macOS over Windows you are not very intelligent. The two OS’s are virtually identical from a daily use perspective, especially where Office is concerned. What’s to learn about Drag-N-Drop, Cut-And-Paste, etc. and Desktop interface?

danox said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

blastdoor said:

I suspect most people want a laptop, and most laptop buyers want a laptop that's actually good at being a laptop (ie, thin, light, long battery life, and best possible performance given those constraints). For that market, the M2 MacBook Air is far and away the best in class. There's really nothing that comes close. It's only people who want maximum multi-core performance without regard to weight/battery/heat/noise who might prefer a Wintel laptop at this point. 

So it's no surprise that the Mac is gaining marketshare throughout the world. 

High performance desktop / workstation is another matter, but in terms of $$ and sales volume, it's a much smaller matter. 

May be, there exist small number of people in the world who have worked only with Windows OS in their lifetime so far and are not motivated to learn Mac OS to be able to use a new laptop. Also, another small number of people who can afford only laptops that cost < $500.

Apples, powerful low power, energy efficient laptops and iPads (able to be used for long hours without being attached to a plug ) are built, to do well in many areas of the world, and the RESELL VALUE of all Apple products far exceeds most of the other manufacturers, Apple is slowly gaining marketshare in many places around the world, particularly among the upper 10%, that resell value means a market beyond the first purchaser of an Apple product which will pay off for Apple in the long run.

Do you guys understand that Mac OS devices are a very small minority in the computer/laptop segments and that there are reasons for it? I just mentioned two of the key reasons for the same (OS familarity is also related to software availability/familiarity). They are not going to change anytime soon even if you wish/think that they are not factors.

My brother likes to give the analogy of driving different cars. If you've only ever driven a manual transmission car, how much do you have to change to drive an automatic transmission - and vice versa? More importantly, if you perceived the other type of device as "better" than your current device (on whatever metrics are important to you), would you refuse to make the change?