Mac Sales Continue to Slide Amid Lack of Updates

Amid a continuing decline in worldwide PC shipments, Apple is also experiencing a decline according to new PC shipping estimates from Gartner. During the third quarter of 2016, Apple shipped an estimated 5 million Macs, down from 5.7 million in the year-ago quarter for a 13.4 percent decline in growth.

Apple's 3Q 2016 market share comes in at 6.7 percent, down from 7.3 percent in 3Q 2015, securing the company's position as the number five worldwide PC vendor after Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Asus. While top PC vendor Lenovo saw a small drop in shipments, HP, Dell, and Asus saw growth in the range of two percent.

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q16 (Thousands of Units)
Lenovo shipped an estimated 14.4 million PCs during the quarter, while HP shipped 14 million, Dell shipped 10 million, and Asus shipped 5.4 million. Acer, the number six worldwide PC vendor, was nearly on par with Apple's shipments at 4.6 million units sent out. Shipments from other smaller manufacturers were at 15 million, a 16.2 percent decline from the year-ago quarter.

In the United States, Apple shipped an estimated two million Macs, a 10.7 percent decline from the 2.3 million shipped in 3Q 2015.

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q16 (Thousands of Units)
According to Gartner's estimates, overall worldwide PC shipments fell 5.7 percent to 68.9 million units, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of decline, which it said is the "longest duration of decline" in the history of the PC industry.

Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-3Q16 (Gartner)
IDC also released its own shipment estimates, noting a 3.9 percent decline in overall worldwide PC shipments. According to IDC's numbers, which are very similar to Gartner's, Apple shipped 5 million Macs during 3Q 2016, a decline of 13 percent from 3Q 2015.

Almost all of Apple's Mac line is in desperate need of an update. Aside from the Retina MacBook, no other machines have received updates in 2016, leaving customers to eagerly await new models.

According to rumors, Apple is planning to introduce a revamped MacBook Pro as soon as later this month, said to feature a redesigned, thinner body, a flatter keyboard, a wider pressure-sensitive trackpad, and most notably, an OLED display touch panel that replaces the physical function keys.

Touch ID may be built into this panel, and it will include updated Intel processors, improved graphics, and USB C/Thunderbolt 3 support. Other Macs, like the Mac Pro, the Mac mini, iMac, and the MacBook Air are due for updates, but it is not yet clear when these machines will receive refreshes.