US MacBook sales drop 6% over 2012 holidays, NPD says
In spite of discounts on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and even Thanksgiving Day, Apple's MacBook line of computers saw a 6 percent decrease in U.S. sales over the five-week-long 2012 holiday sales period.
NPD Group?s Weekly Tracking Service revealed on Friday that Apple?s MacBook sales from Nov. 18 through Dec. 22 were lower than the same period in 2011. Despite slower sales, the average selling price of MacBooks was up nearly $100 from a year prior to $1,419.
The decline in domestic MacBook sales could be explained at least in part by the fact that the only new portable Mac released by Apple ahead of the holiday shopping season was the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The rest of Apple's MacBook lineup received updates over the summer, while the company's fall refresh focused on desktops, with a redesigned iMac and updated Mac mini.
In contrast, Apple issued minor updates to the entire MacBook Pro lineup in late 2011, featuring slightly faster Intel CPUs, new graphics processors, and larger hard drives.
While Apple saw a domestic decline with its notebook lineup, MacBooks did not see as significant of a decline as Windows PCs during the same period. Sales of notebooks running Microsoft Windows were down 11 percent year over year, even with the much hyped launch of the new Windows 8 operating system.
The average selling price of Windows notebooks increased $2 to $420. Touchscreen notebooks with Windows 8 had an average price of $700 and accounted for 4.5 percent of all Windows notebook sales.
The biggest hit for PCs came in the low-end market ? a segment where Apple?s iPad has had the greatest effect. Sales of sub-$500 PCs were off 16 percent year over year, according to NPD.
In all, American consumer electronics sales were off 3.7 percent in the 2012 holiday season when compared to 2011. Overall electronics sales worsened as the holiday season went on, as the last three weeks before Christmas saw sales fall 11 percent.
Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD, blamed what he called a ?weak product cycle? in the consumer electronics industry. Bright spots he cited were soundbars, headphones with microphones, interchangeable lens cameras, cellular accessories, and tablets.
"For the third consecutive year sales trends worsened in the later part of the holiday season,? Baker said. "The hyped-up promotion of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Thanksgiving Day has proven remarkably effective in moving sales into the early part of the holiday season. Trends like online shopping and self-gifting have intensified the focus on the more event-driven early part of the holiday season."
Market watchers have forecast that Apple will see an overall decline in Mac sales during the 2012 holiday quarter, given that the bulk of the company's sales are of notebooks, and the redesigned iMac saw limited availability before Christmas. The 2011 holiday shopping season was a record setting quarter for the Mac, as Apple sold a best-ever 5.2 million units.
NPD Group?s Weekly Tracking Service revealed on Friday that Apple?s MacBook sales from Nov. 18 through Dec. 22 were lower than the same period in 2011. Despite slower sales, the average selling price of MacBooks was up nearly $100 from a year prior to $1,419.
The decline in domestic MacBook sales could be explained at least in part by the fact that the only new portable Mac released by Apple ahead of the holiday shopping season was the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The rest of Apple's MacBook lineup received updates over the summer, while the company's fall refresh focused on desktops, with a redesigned iMac and updated Mac mini.
In contrast, Apple issued minor updates to the entire MacBook Pro lineup in late 2011, featuring slightly faster Intel CPUs, new graphics processors, and larger hard drives.
While Apple saw a domestic decline with its notebook lineup, MacBooks did not see as significant of a decline as Windows PCs during the same period. Sales of notebooks running Microsoft Windows were down 11 percent year over year, even with the much hyped launch of the new Windows 8 operating system.
The average selling price of Windows notebooks increased $2 to $420. Touchscreen notebooks with Windows 8 had an average price of $700 and accounted for 4.5 percent of all Windows notebook sales.
The biggest hit for PCs came in the low-end market ? a segment where Apple?s iPad has had the greatest effect. Sales of sub-$500 PCs were off 16 percent year over year, according to NPD.
In all, American consumer electronics sales were off 3.7 percent in the 2012 holiday season when compared to 2011. Overall electronics sales worsened as the holiday season went on, as the last three weeks before Christmas saw sales fall 11 percent.
Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD, blamed what he called a ?weak product cycle? in the consumer electronics industry. Bright spots he cited were soundbars, headphones with microphones, interchangeable lens cameras, cellular accessories, and tablets.
"For the third consecutive year sales trends worsened in the later part of the holiday season,? Baker said. "The hyped-up promotion of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Thanksgiving Day has proven remarkably effective in moving sales into the early part of the holiday season. Trends like online shopping and self-gifting have intensified the focus on the more event-driven early part of the holiday season."
Market watchers have forecast that Apple will see an overall decline in Mac sales during the 2012 holiday quarter, given that the bulk of the company's sales are of notebooks, and the redesigned iMac saw limited availability before Christmas. The 2011 holiday shopping season was a record setting quarter for the Mac, as Apple sold a best-ever 5.2 million units.
Comments
Originally Posted by ifij775
A cheaper, lighter, longer-battery, arm-based notebook would destroy PC sales. Throw in LTE FTW
Why? A traditional laptop with no software, a gimped OS, no Thunderbolt, and based on a mobile architecture would do better than the regular MacBook line, all of which would be vastly more capable? I mean, we've seen how well Surface RT did.
And again, they tried cellular telephony in a laptop. They decided against it.
The decline is due to the iPad.
The "notebook" paradigm is over 30 years old.
You can also argue a little more reluctance in consumer spending, but not much else.
Apple's quarterly report will tell the actual tale, where we'll see actual YoY numbers.
I believe it's called a "netbook". Perhaps you heard of it? It's the cheaper-than-dirt notebooks that were supposed to decimate the PC (and Apple) and has just recently been been declared dead.
Apparently even consumers realized just how bad those pieces of junk actually were.
Originally Posted by deepriver
No DVD on the new model.........
Is this your actual answer? Do you honestly think for one second that this has anything to do with it? No.
It has been SIX MONTHS since the retina models were released. Notice also that they released another new model, based on the old design, that DOES have have an ODD. This has nothing to do with the sales.
Originally Posted by winstein2010
A two year old toddler would pop all the keys on a laptop/netbook and put them in his mouth.
That's one impressive kid, being able to get laptop keys off!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
...
The decline in domestic MacBook sales could be explained at least in part by the fact that the only new portable Mac released by Apple ahead of the holiday shopping season was the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The rest of Apple's MacBook lineup received updates over the summer, while the company's fall refresh focused on desktops, with a redesigned iMac and updated Mac mini.
In contrast, Apple issued minor updates to the entire MacBook Pro lineup in late 2011, featuring slightly faster Intel CPUs, new graphics processors, and larger hard drives. ...
Assuming NPD's numbers are correct, I think that explains it almost entirely.
Another, minor at this time, factor is that I think notebook sales are at, or close to, their peak. As tablets become ubiquitous, and more than capable to handle the mobile needs of the vast majority of users, I think a lot of sales are going to switch back to desktops. Notebooks as a primary computer have always been a compromise solution -- relatively heavy to carry around, and cramped by relatively tiny screens -- as well as overkill for what most people need to do away from home or the office. With the advent of useable tablets -- i.e., iPads -- more and more people are likely to opt for more of a no-compromise approach to computing, picking the devices that work the best for what they are used for and where they are used. Even a 21" iMac is better and more productive than a 15" MacBook for stationary use. An iPad or iPhone is much easier to carry around for mobile use, with all the functionality that most users need. Most people don't have to compromise any longer, and they aren't going to want to.
Notebooks have also been sort of a "fashion" trend for the last decade, with people buying them even when they don't need to carry them around. Now it's much cooler to be seen with an iPad than even a MacBook Air. So the "fashion" aspect of choices will also fuel this trend. For those who really do need a "full computer" on the go -- and that's really a relatively small number of people -- MacBook Airs with Retina displays will be the standard hardware in a couple of years as the MBP line will gradually be phased out in its favor.
It will be interesting to see what Apple does with its desktop line over the next several years as the expected uptick in desktop sales takes off. I'm skeptical that we'll ever see the xMac, but perhaps another 1 or 2 iMac options, or more variation in the Mini line.
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I'm overdue for a new MacBook Pro, but I want a Retina model, and I'm putting off getting one until their external monitor is Retina.
I dropped a SSD into my 3.5 year old 17-inch MBP, and it feels like a new machine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ifij775
A cheaper, lighter, longer-battery, arm-based notebook would destroy PC sales. Throw in LTE FTW
Isn't that what those Chromebook things are supposed to be?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
The decline is due to the iPad.
The "notebook" paradigm is over 30 years old.
It is due to the iPad.
The paradigm can be 75 years old, many things will never be easier by touch input.
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How does the NPD get word of how many MacBooks Apple has sold when Apple hasn't released any numbers? How does that "happen"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
The decline is due to the iPad.
The "notebook" paradigm is over 30 years old.
You can also argue a little more reluctance in consumer spending, but not much else.
Apple's quarterly report will tell the actual tale, where we'll see actual YoY numbers.
I suspect the iPad is a big reason why a lot of consumers choose not to buy a laptop. With the advent of the iPad I suspect a lot of consumers question what they hell they have been buying a fully featured laptop for when all they do is browse and email. Now they also FaceTime, chat, play games and listen to music, etc on a much more user friendly device. In other words, a lot of people have smartened up. Is my guess.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
The decline is due to the iPad.
The "notebook" paradigm is over 30 years old.
You can also argue a little more reluctance in consumer spending, but not much else.
Apple's quarterly report will tell the actual tale, where we'll see actual YoY numbers.
I agree. Notebooks are still essential for anyone who needs to get "serious" work done on the road, but there's another group who just wants portable access to information, picture sharing, online shopping, email, etc. For these people, an iPad more than satisfies. I have a MacBook Pro and love it, but these days I travel with my iPad a lot more often than I do the MacBook. If I don't need to work while I'm on the road, I prefer the convenience of the iPad. My next Mac might very well be a desktop again.
Apple MUST introduce touch screens to ALL their laptops. As an avid iPad user, I am constantly swiping up and down the screen on my MacBook Air 13" after using my iPad. It is the most intuitive and speedy way to scroll up and down a web page or document, and pinch to zoom is the most intuitive manner in which to, well, zoom in or out or or scale an item. (Grafio on iOS uses pinch to zoom to scale objects - and once you have tried it, there is no going back to slower less precise methods.)
Consumers are going to get used to touch screens thanks to tablets/phones and want laptops that do the same, as are creative pros like myself. Those who claim touch screens are tiring are wrong, what IS tiring is performing gestures in the air, but that is not the same.
If the 2013 MacBook Airs don't do touch, their sales will fall as people migrate to increasingly powerful Android or Windows transportables, where apps will appear in parallel with the increased sales rendering Apple's current value proposition (superior apps) redundant.
(Sorry if this appears twice, I didn't login before and not sure if prior post was accepted.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oflife
Apple MUST introduce touch screens to ALL their laptops. As an avid iPad user, I am constantly swiping up and down the screen on my MacBook Air 13" after using my iPad. It is the most intuitive and speedy way to scroll up and down a web page or document, and pinch to zoom is the most intuitive manner in which to, well, zoom in or out or or scale an item. (Grafio on iOS uses pinch to zoom to scale objects - and once you have tried it, there is no going back to slower less precise methods.)
Consumers are going to get used to touch screens thanks to tablets/phones and want laptops that do the same, as are creative pros like myself. Those who claim touch screens are tiring are wrong, what IS tiring is performing gestures in the air, but that is not the same.
If the 2013 MacBook Airs don't do touch, their sales will fall as people migrate to increasingly powerful Android or Windows transportables, where apps will appear in parallel with the increased sales rendering Apple's current value proposition (superior apps) redundant.
(Sorry if this appears twice, I didn't login before and not sure if prior post was accepted.)
The decision of adding touch screens to ALL their laptops because of a few folks with Alzheimer's + can't discern a laptop from a tablet is just a recipe for disaster.
It doesn't matter of your finger is touching air or a display, I'd your arms are outstretched in front of you for extended times you'll get gorilla arm.
stock getting crushed again today on seemingly endless bad news. so much for tax selling... where is the news on further cuts and drop in production?? should be front and center, no?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oflife
Apple MUST introduce touch screens to ALL their laptops. As an avid iPad user, I am constantly swiping up and down the screen on my MacBook Air 13" after using my iPad. It is the most intuitive and speedy way to scroll up and down a web page or document, and pinch to zoom is the most intuitive manner in which to, well, zoom in or out or or scale an item. (Grafio on iOS uses pinch to zoom to scale objects - and once you have tried it, there is no going back to slower less precise methods.)
Consumers are going to get used to touch screens thanks to tablets/phones and want laptops that do the same, as are creative pros like myself. Those who claim touch screens are tiring are wrong, what IS tiring is performing gestures in the air, but that is not the same.
Explain how software development (a large portion of the professional market) works on a touchscreen computer? Lots of typing (many characters require holding the shift key), often need precise control over where the cursor is placed (a pain on a touchscreen because a fingertip is not accurate enough for fast cursor placement), use of hotkeys, often switching between many documents, etc.
Obviously a combination of physical keyboard and touchscreen is a possibility, but it's still slower to go back and forth from keyboard to touchscreen than to just use keyboard and mouse.
Any tasks which require large amounts of text input/editing don't benefit from a touchscreen.
Originally Posted by Oflife
Apple MUST introduce touch screens to ALL their laptops.
No. Period. Apple will kill laptops entirely, replacing them with the iPad (9.7", 11", 13.3", and a 15" once the weight can go down enough). They are NOT going to make laptops with touchscreens!
As an avid iPad user, I am constantly swiping up and down the screen on my MacBook Air 13" after using my iPad.
So am I. That's the idea! Wait, no, I'm not touching my screens. But I'm desiring to. And that's Apple's game.
OS X is being made more "touchy", but it's not going to accept touches. It's not made for it, it never was, it never will be. As many times as I've wanted to touch a UI element in the newest OS X's, I've been glad that I am still forced to use a mouse. Because it's just not ready.
Yet.
But when the transition comes, when laptops are killed off and the iMac is given a multitouch redesign, when Apple sells a 27" (and 40") Multitouch Display for their professional Mac and Mac Mini, we'll have been begging them for it. The people that hate OS X now? The ones that think it's becoming "too iPady"? Don't get it. Rather, they DO get it. They get exactly what Apple is doing, they just don't see why.
Apple can't drop a Mac 128k on the world anymore. Too many people own computers now. We have to be weaned toward it, and that's what OS X is now. When the day comes, we'll ask why it took so long. But it needed to take that long.
Those who claim touch screens are tiring are wrong, what IS tiring is performing gestures in the air, but that is not the same.
It is when the touchscreen is vertical, which isn't what Apple would give us.
If the 2013 MacBook Airs don't do touch, their sales will fall…
No.
…as people migrate to increasingly powerful Android or Windows transportables…
*snort* You've seen Windows 8, right?
…apps will appear in parallel with the increased sales rendering Apple's current value proposition (superior apps) redundant.
What?