Mac sales continue to slide in Q2 as overall PC market rebounds [Update: Numbers refuted]

Posted:
in General Discussion edited July 2014
Apple's share of the U.S. computer market slipped again during the second quarter of 2014 despite a global trend towards growth in the PC marketplace after tablets like the iPad cannibalized sales.


Source: IDC


According to IDC's preliminary results for the most recent June quarter, Apple continued to bleed marketshare in the U.S. PC industry, ending the three-month period as the only top-five PC vendor to have ceded ground year-to-year.

Update: Apple's officially released sales figures for the quarter state that the company's Mac sales actually increased by 18 percent globally as the overall PC industry remained stagnant. Apple's chief executive Tim Cook also stated the company had "achieved strong double digit Mac growth across many countries, including the U.S.," indicating that IDC and Gartner's estimates were incorrect and that Apple continues to outpace the overall conventional PC market, even when including Windows tablet shipments but not iPad sales.

For the quarter, Apple held 10 percent of the market on shipments of about 1.68 million Macs, down from 10.9 percent in the year ago period. The company's growth shrunk 1.7 percent year-over-year, leaving Apple in fourth place behind HP, Dell and Lenovo.

IDC data had HP leading the U.S. market with a 27.3 percent share on 4.6 million unit shipments, up 2.1 points from 2013. Second-place Dell also showed gains, moving from a 24.3 percent marketshare in 2013 to 25.7 percent in the three months ended June. Year-to-year growth for HP and Dell stood at 15.6 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.

Lenovo's share of the market hit 11.5 percent on 1.9 million shipments, up from 9.8 percent last year. The Chinese company exhibited the highest growth out of the top-five OEMs, jumping 24.7 percent year-over-year. Rounding out the top-five, Toshiba managed to clear the one million units shipped milestone to claim 6.1 percent of the market. Growth was strong over the three-month period, adding up to a 20.6 percent change from last year.

Spurring the strong PC market performance were businesses looking to replace aging computers running Microsoft's Windows XP, which is no longer supported by the software giant, IDC says. On the consumer side, low-end computers like Chromebooks drove sales to help even out cannibalization from tablet devices.

"The better than expected results seem to arise from two places. One encouraging factor was a good intake of lower-end systems, including Chromebooks, which coincides with the recent slowing in tablet growth and perhaps signals the beginning of some stabilization on the consumer side," said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst at IDC's Worldwide PC Trackers. "In addition, a sizable number of PCs are still running Windows XP and the impetus to upgrade them continued to boost shipments in the second quarter."


Source: Gartner


A separate report from Gartner also put Apple as the fourth-place PC vendor in quarter two, with a 10.6 percent share of the market on shipments nearing 1.7 million. That figure is down from the same time last year, when Apple shipped about 1.68 million Macs to take an 11.5 percent marketshare. The research firm corroborated IDC's report by noting Apple as the only top-five PC maker to post negative growth year-over-year, dipping 1.3 percent from 2013.

Gartner's report also claims HP, Dell and Lenovo took the top-three spots, with share of 27.7 percent, 26 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. Lenovo was seen as the largest driver of growth being up 20.3 percent year-to-year, though HP was close behind with 15.5 percent followed by Dell's 12.3 percent growth. Toshiba was named as the fifth-place finisher for the second quarter, netting 6.4 percent of the market on over 1 million unit shipments, up from 5.8 percent in 2013. The Japanese company exhibited second-highest growth at 18.5 percent.

There is a disparity between the two reports, however, as IDC found the U.S. PC market to have grown 6.9 percent year-over-year, while Gartner puts the number closer to 7.4 percent. Gartner points out that its data is limited to desk-based PCs, notebooks and Ultramobile Premium, the latter of which includes Windows 8 tablets. Lower-end devices like Chromebooks and other tablet were disregarded.

On a global scale, IDC said PC shipments fell 1.7 percent, though performance was better than expected, meaning the market may be leveling off. As for Gartner, the firm found worldwide shipments actually grew 0.1 points from 2013 on an unusually strong performance from HP.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 128
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Who cares? The Mac has never been in a marketshare war and never will be. In terms of bottom line, it's almost irrelevant. I expect Macs will get a boost once hardware and software is updated this fall, not to mention the increased halo effect from the better synergy between iOS8 and Yosemite. 

  • Reply 2 of 128
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    "...a sizable number of PCs are still running Windows XP and the impetus to upgrade them continued to boost shipments..."

    And Windows 8 will be "good enough" for businesses for then next 14 or 15 years.
    Despite Microsoft releasing Windows 9, Windows 10, ad nauseam.
  • Reply 3 of 128
    It's all about cost. Macs are perceived to be too expensive. Few consider total through life costs.
  • Reply 4 of 128
    Those numbers are totally wrong. Apple has been shipping about 4 million macs, quarter after quarter, for years.
  • Reply 5 of 128
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Is this corporate purchases beginning to pick up? I struggle to think why people would by a Windows machine for personal use in this day and age. Granted, I am biased and live in an Apple dominated computer world. I know very few people that use PC's. It used to be very different.

    When Apple brings out its IOS driven clamshell Air, life will change forever, once again. Believe it.
  • Reply 6 of 128
    The growth number is a concern more than total market share. Yes, PC manufacturers sell more machines at lower prices and margins more often to the same customers. Market share of sales doesn't necessarily equal market share of users because of that.

    However, when Apple's sales are falling year over year, and the market is increasing shipments year over year, it means Apple is losing ground. This is a shift from a few years ago when they were consistently gaining ground.

    Now, what may be happening is that the gains from the last few years with new users are holding on to their existing machines longer (as mac users tend to do) so we're now re-stabalizing.
  • Reply 7 of 128
    lightknightlightknight Posts: 2,312member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post



    "...a sizable number of PCs are still running Windows XP and the impetus to upgrade them continued to boost shipments..."



    And Windows 8 will be "good enough" for businesses for then next 14 or 15 years.

    Despite Microsoft releasing Windows 9, Windows 10, ad nauseam.

    I strongly doubt that. Any business worth its IT department, advisor, consultant or in-house semi-geek knows the even rule: Microsoft does bad odd-number OSes, and worse even-number OSes. So tmo, it's "Windows 7/9 will be 'good enough'", rather than 8.

     

    You're welcome to correct me if you have other information, but anything by IDC or Gartner doesn't count, obviously. *They* think iPad is probably finally going to come out of that unexpected turn of events where fools accidentally bought them en masse.

     

    Also, since the forum ate my previous post, this is sleazy accounting. A ChromeBook (and all these things) is hardly "a PC". Should we also count in the Raspberries? This is pretty oriented accounting too, and should include iPads therefore since they're the primary PC of many people, which would tilt the balance towards Apple.

     

    I would be MUCH more interested in a comparison on decent devices... but then again, I can't seem to find a non-Apple decent device for a price point I can afford without assembling it myself.

  • Reply 8 of 128
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     

    Who cares? The Mac has never been in a marketshare war and never will be. In terms of bottom line, it's almost irrelevant. I expect Macs will get a boost once hardware and software is updated this fall, not to mention the increased halo effect from the better synergy between iOS8 and Yosemite. 


     

    Still, Apple makes 35% to 45% of all profits in the PC industry, depending on who you read.

    Not bad for a single company with only 5 PC lines.

    (Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, in case anyone needed a refresher.)

     

    Sources:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/192273/article.html

    http://fortune.com/2013/04/16/pie-chart-of-the-day-apples-oversize-share-of-pc-profits/

    http://www.infoworld.com/t/macbooks/pcs-decline-its-apple-thats-making-real-money-pcs-216573

  • Reply 9 of 128
    dickprinterdickprinter Posts: 1,060member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DogCowabunga View Post



    Those numbers are totally wrong. Apple has been shipping about 4 million macs, quarter after quarter, for years.

    These are numbers for U.S. sales only. You're speaking of worldwide sales, which Apple quotes during their earnings call. 

  • Reply 10 of 128
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    Well, in Apple's case people bought the upgraded hardware last year. The Mini is likely not moving due to most people waiting for them to get off their butts and upgrade it. And sales might be weaker this holiday due to Broadwell being delayed, causing people to wait until 2015.
  • Reply 11 of 128
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member

    Wait they are reporting and making claims on number which the industry has yet to report out on. WoW this guys are wonderful that able to tell us what happen before the companies who actually know for sure have told anyone. I wonder who is their sources are of this insider information I think someone should call the SEC for sharing insider information before the company themselves make it public.

  • Reply 12 of 128
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Count me as one of those people that have not bought a replacement iMac (mine's a late 2009) until I see the next refresh.

  • Reply 13 of 128
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member

    Originally Posted by lightknight View Post

     

    I strongly doubt that. Any business worth its IT department, advisor, consultant or in-house semi-geek knows the even rule: Microsoft does bad odd-number OSes, and worse even-number OSes. So tmo, it's "Windows 7/9 will be 'good enough'", rather than 8.


     

    LOL.  I seem to recall that the predecessor to Windows 7 was called "Windows Vista."  Not Windows 6.

    So that even / odd theory is too new for any "IT department, advisor, consultant, or in-house semi-geek" to trust yet.

     

    Oh, sure, the internal designation for Windows Vista was Windows 6.0.  Yeah, knew that.  Even number.

    But the internal designation for Windows 7 was "Windows 6.1."  Kinda like a bug-fix release would be designated.

    Here it is from the horse's mouth:

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/is-microsoft-windows-7-the-same-as-windows-61/1fe12fe6-5c10-4926-89d3-249e8cabc06f

    So what does that do to the even / odd theory?

     


    Originally Posted by lightknight View Post

     

    You're welcome to correct me if you have other information, but anything by IDC or Gartner doesn't count, obviously. *They* think iPad is probably finally going to come out of that unexpected turn of events where fools accidentally bought them en masse.


     

    Agreed.  Is IDC still calling iPad a "media tablet"?  Are they still trying to pretend that it's not cannibalizing PCs?

    Are they still trying to ignore the post-PC era?  Ignoring it and hoping it just goes away sure didn't work for Microsoft.

    Ask Ballmer.

  • Reply 14 of 128
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    IDC statistics. Ignored.
  • Reply 15 of 128
    lorin schultzlorin schultz Posts: 2,771member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     

    Who cares?


     

    I do. Apple has been known to drop stuff that isn't profitable enough, i.e. even though it makes money, it doesn't make ENOUGH money. If the Mac continues to slide, it won't be long before Tim says "screw it" and focusses the company's attention on just being the preeminent mobile manufacturer. I don't wanna go back to using Windows.

     

    I agree with those who suggest that price is a factor. I'm hanging onto an aging machine even though I'd kinda like stuff like USB3 and solid-state storage just because the cost of entry is so bloody high. I use the machine for content creation so the Air, with its little screen and comparatively anemic guts, isn't a good option. By the time I load up a new one with comparable guts I'm up over three grand (pushing four after AppleCare and tax).

     

    Now let's say Apple put a little less Excellentium into each model. That would have two benefits for Apple. First, my aging machine would have failed by now, forcing me to buy a new one. Second, the price of a new one would not be so high that I would have waited this long and would already HAVE a new one (maybe even two by now).

     

    I know it's not a popular opinion, but I honestly think Apple's pricing strategy WRT Macs is self-destructive. I can't prove it without convincing Apple to try my approach though, so I guess we'll never know.

     

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post

     

    Still, Apple makes 35% to 45% of all profits in the PC industry, depending on who you read.

    Not bad for a single company with only 5 PC lines.

    (Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, in case anyone needed a refresher.)

     

    Sources:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/192273/article.html

    http://fortune.com/2013/04/16/pie-chart-of-the-day-apples-oversize-share-of-pc-profits/

    http://www.infoworld.com/t/macbooks/pcs-decline-its-apple-thats-making-real-money-pcs-216573


     

    That information is a year-and-a-half old (four years in the case of the first link). According to today's article that's no longer true. That's the point.

  • Reply 16 of 128
    j1h15233j1h15233 Posts: 274member
    Sounds like a lot of people made poor decisions
  • Reply 17 of 128

    Oh, the US market.  Of course!   Never mind, dudes, never mind.

  • Reply 18 of 128
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lorin Schultz View Post

     

     

    I do. Apple has been known to drop stuff that isn't profitable enough, i.e. even though it makes money, it doesn't make ENOUGH money. If the Mac continues to slide, it won't be long before Tim says "screw it" and focusses the company's attention on just being the preeminent mobile manufacturer. I don't wanna go back to using Windows.


     

    First off, they are not going to ditch the Mac: end of story.  The Mac is a critical piece to the puzzle, and here is why: Developers. In order for the IOS system to work, it needs its 3rd party developers to continue making those great apps/games for iOS.  And what do you think they are using to make those awesome apps/games for iOS: the Mac.  So, while the Mac line will never be as profitable as the iOS line or the iTunes line, it is a very crucial part of it.

     

    Also, before someone mentions that you can use things like Titanium ox Xamarin to create iOS apps, I would strongly suggest you go look at it.  It is designed to be create once - deploy everywhere kind of tools, and those tools do not produce the best kind of optimized code to create the awesome apps/games for iOS.

  • Reply 19 of 128
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lorin Schultz View Post

     

     

    I do. Apple has been known to drop stuff that isn't profitable enough, i.e. even though it makes money, it doesn't make ENOUGH money. If the Mac continues to slide, it won't be long before Tim says "screw it" and focusses the company's attention on just being the preeminent mobile manufacturer. I don't wanna go back to using Windows.

     

    I agree with those who suggest that price is a factor. I'm hanging onto an aging machine even though I'd kinda like stuff like USB3 and solid-state storage just because the cost of entry is so bloody high. I use the machine for content creation so the Air, with its little screen and comparatively anemic guts, isn't a good option. By the time I load up a new one with comparable guts I'm up over three grand (pushing four after AppleCare and tax).

     

    Now let's say Apple put a little less Excellentium into each model. That would have two benefits for Apple. First, my aging machine would have failed by now, forcing me to buy a new one. Second, the price of a new one would not be so high that I would have waited this long and would already HAVE a new one (maybe even two by now).

     

    I know it's not a popular opinion, but I honestly think Apple's pricing strategy WRT Macs is self-destructive. I can't prove it without convincing Apple to try my approach though, so I guess we'll never know.

     

     

    That information is a year-and-a-half old (four years in the case of the first link). According to today's article that's no longer true. That's the point.


     

    Don't be ridiculous...The Mac is not going away anytime soon. 

     

    Apple would never not put excellence into anything it releases. This isn't how Apple does things and never will be. Your argument there is nonsense...why would Apple make a Mac that would be designed to fail and/or go out of date faster so it sells more Macs and risk its reputation? In today's world, its actually the opposite which is I think one reason why you may see a decline in Mac sales. When you buy a Mac, there's no need to replace it all the time and Apple is supporting older Macs with the newest OS X releases very well. 

     

    Price has never really been a factor for Apple, even in 2007-2008 when the economy was in the crapper for everyone, Apple was still selling record amounts of Macs and all Apple products in general. People know what they're buying. This deal where people think Macs are expensive may be there, but its not the majority in today's world. I think Apple has done a great job explaining the benefits of owning a Mac vs a PC. 

     

    So with Macs being more reliable, and upgradable from an OS X stand point, and Apple really hasn't given anyone a reason to upgrade lately, I think this is the real reason why sales may be declining a little. Were also in an era where mobile devices such as iPads are going to outsell Macs as more and more people are just using an iPad for everyday work, making the Mac not necessary. 

     

    So the Mac isn't going away. The apps aren't going to come out of thin air for iOS devices. I don't see Apple making Xcode for iOS anytime soon. 

  • Reply 20 of 128
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    So they are counting Windows tablets and not iPads? What kind of data manipulation is going in here.
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