The PC market continues to slide, according to the latest estimates, and while Apple is seeing only a small gain or loss in shipments year-over-year depending on who is doing the counting, the Mac maker continues to outpace the overall market.
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Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)
Gartner's numbers show Apple shipping 5.6 million Macs worldwide during the third quarter, an increase of 1.5 percent over the third quarter of 2014 and good enough for fourth place with 7.6 percent of the market, placing behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell. The global market as a whole saw a 7.7 percent decline in shipments, with only Dell at 0.5 percent joining Apple among top vendors with shipment growth.
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Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)
In the U.S., Gartner estimates Apple's shipments grew 7.3 percent to 2.5 million, ahead of the market's 1.3 percent growth. Apple ranked third with 14.8 percent of the market, although Lenovo is rapidly closing with strong U.S. sales growth.
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Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-3Q15 (Gartner)
Compared to Gartner, IDC predicts steeper losses for the PC market, pegging the global shipment decline at 10.8 percent year-over-year with Apple falling 3.4 percent. That was, however, still good enough for fourth place worldwide with 7.5 percent of the market. IDC's U.S. numbers put Apple at 1.6 percent growth, reaching 13.7 percent share to edge out Lenovo as the third largest seller of PCs while the overall U.S. market fell 0.7 percent.
A better picture of Apple's Mac shipments will come on October 27 when the company reports earnings for the typically strong back-to-school quarter.
Top Rated Comments
I think the reason for the PC market decline is more than just smartphones and tablets. Just the computers themselves are now fast enough that most people just don't need to upgrade. You only need so many GHz to read your email. What is the software benefit from that extra speed for most people? The people who actually need the speed aside from gamers are professional photographers, video editors, and musicians. They generally buy Macs. Researchers generally run simulations on high end servers. Many gamers build their own box (I used to).
On topic: Macduke said it nicely. Device capability is outstriping general consumer needs. Outside of niche power users, a mid range PC/Mac from 2012 can still meet the needs of the vast majority of the consuming public.