Worldwide PC market staggers in Q4 as Apple's Mac reaches new heights

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2015
According to its quarterly PC report for the fourth quarter of 2014, research firm IDC found Apple sold some 5.8 million Macs over the three-month period, bucking an overall negative trend for the market.


Source: IDC


IDC on Monday released its preliminary report covering worldwide PC shipments for quarter four, estimating Apple Mac sales jumped 18.9 percent year-over-year to hit 5.8 million units shipped, equal to a 7.1 percent share of the market.

The strong results come three months after IDC reported Mac among the top five PC vendors worldwide for the first time ever. Prior to the third quarter of 2014, Apple had been a major player in the U.S. market, but had failed to break into the top-five worldwide.

Based on growth, Apple was the best performing OEM for quarter four followed by HP, which shipped 15.9 million units over the same period, a 15.1 percent change compared to 2013. Overall, however, IDC saw the worldwide PC market droop 2.4 percent on shipments of 80.8 million units.

Lenovo came in first with just over 16 million PCs shipped good for 19.9 percent of the market, up 4.9 percent year-over-year. HP came in second with 19.7 percent of the overall market. Third and fourth went to Dell and Asus, which saw a respective 10.9 million and 6.2 million shipments for 13.5 percent and 7.7 percent of the market. Apple finished fifth.

The biggest hit came from the "other" category, filled by smaller manufacturers like Samsung, Asus, Toshiba and more, which collectively saw a 20.7-percent dip in shipments year-over-year.


Source: Gartner


As usual, Gartner had slightly different numbers that did not include Apple as a top-five PC manufacturer, replacing the Cupertino, Calif., company with Asus. The competing research firm estimates Lenovo, HP and Dell led the worldwide market on shipments of 16.3 million, 15.8 million and 10.7 million units, respectively. Acer and Asus pulled up the rear with a respective 6.8 million and 6.3 million units shipped, Gartner said.

For Gartner, the overall outlook was in the black, but just so. For the fourth quarter of 2014, PC shipments held steady at a growth rate of one percent.

U.S. market numbers were more congruous as both IDC and Gartner agreed that HP, Dell, Apple and Lenovo, in that order, were the top four manufacturers. IDC reported Asus in fifth, while Toshiba took that spot of Gartner's list.


Source: IDC


On the whole, the domestic market proved to be positive, with IDC finding a 4.7-percent growth rate year-over-year on 17.7 million units shipped, and Gartner finding a much more optimistic 13.1 percent on 18.1 million shipments.


Source: Gartner


Unlike other companies, Apple announces quarterly Mac sales in investor conference calls, the next being scheduled to take place on Jan. 27. AppleInsider will offer live coverage of event starting at 2 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Eastern.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24

    Fantabulous

  • Reply 2 of 24
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    So now we believe IDC? Or AI chose to base their headline of IDCs numbers because they were better than Gartner's?
  • Reply 3 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    So now we believe IDC? Or AI chose to base their headline of IDCs numbers because they were better than Gartner's?

    I'd rather wait to hear Tim Cook. I believe the numbers he and Luca Maestri report.

  • Reply 4 of 24
    IDC is full of it. Apple is doomed.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    According to this the major name brands all showed growth, not just Apple. It's the others category that hurt the PC industry. Perhaps a smartphone or tablet is a better fit for those customers over a traditional "PC".
  • Reply 6 of 24

    According to those reports, Gartner accounts for Windows tablets while IDC does not.

     

    Quote (Gartner):


     Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, premium ultramobiles and all Windows-based tablets. It excludes Chromebooks and other non-Windows-based tablets.


     

     

    Quote (IDC):


     PCs include Desktops, Portables, Ultraslim Notebooks, Chromebooks, and Workstations and do not include handhelds, x86 Servers and Tablets (i.e. iPad, or Tablets with detachable keyboards running either Windows or Android).


  • Reply 7 of 24
    bobschlobbobschlob Posts: 1,074member

    "Worldwide PC market staggers"

     

    Not best choice of description, as 'stagger' can also mean incredibly good.

  • Reply 8 of 24
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    Hopefully these consistently good results year after year will cause more PC developers to consider Mac versions of their apps.

  • Reply 9 of 24
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BobSchlob View Post

     

    "Worldwide PC market staggers"

     

    Not best choice of description, as 'stagger' can also mean incredibly good.




    Uh, no. Staggering growth, perhaps, but if someone staggers that's not a good thing.

  • Reply 10 of 24
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Since the Mac is 0% of the enterprise those are higher numbers in the consumer space.

    I can see the Mac winning over iphone users over time. A slow long burning halo effect.
  • Reply 11 of 24
    bobschlob wrote: »
    "Worldwide PC market staggers"

    Not best choice of description, as 'stagger' can also mean incredibly good.

    So what?

    No need to discombobschlobulate.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    We are paying attention to IDC because why?
  • Reply 13 of 24
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post



    Since the Mac is 0% of the enterprise

    :???: My company uses them extensively

  • Reply 14 of 24
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    :???:  My company uses them extensively

    Yeah. Maybe a slight exaggeration by me.

    Anyways hoping for 20M macs 2017 4Q
  • Reply 15 of 24
    asdasd wrote: »
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    :???:  My company uses them extensively

    Yeah. Maybe a slight exaggeration by me.

    Anyways hoping for 20M macs 2017 4Q

    Wow! You must be Apple's best customer.

    Enjoy using them!
  • Reply 16 of 24
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Wow! You must be Apple's best customer.

    Enjoy using them!

    Got a big family.
  • Reply 17 of 24
    ash471ash471 Posts: 705member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post





    Yeah. Maybe a slight exaggeration by me.



    Anyways hoping for 20M macs 2017 4Q

    I work at a law firm and I was told by my IT group that it would be a cold day in hell before the firm allowed Macs.  That cold day arrived 3 years ago.  

    I'm puzzled at the low alleged market share for Apple.  Outside the law firm, it seems like most people I interact with use Macs.  

  • Reply 18 of 24
    Remember just a few weeks ago the story where the only computers allowed for use at Sony where Macs? Because they stood up to the hack? Well, I can't imagine it went unnoticed by the corporate world these days. I would think the market is ripe for Apple's picking. But I'm not a professional so I don't know how those decisions are made. But it sure seems to fit.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    ash471 wrote: »
    I work at a law firm and I was told by my IT group that it would be a cold day in hell before the firm allowed Macs.  That cold day arrived 3 years ago.  
    I'm puzzled at the low alleged market share for Apple.  Outside the law firm, it seems like most people I interact with use Macs.  

    It's that market share is a measure of current sales. Someone needs to show a bar chart over the years indicating installed base share. I imagine that's bern steadily climbing for Macs as they last significantly longer than the average PC.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member

    Apparently, there's a conspiracy forming to slow Apple down by flooding stores. Good luck with that... <s>

     

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