Apple's Mac Shipments Increase in Q2 2018 as PC Market Sees First Growth in 6 Years [Updated]

Apple's worldwide Mac shipments grew 3 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the year-ago quarter, according to new preliminary PC shipping estimates shared today by Gartner.

During the quarter, Apple shipped an estimated 4.4 million Macs, compared to 4.26 million in the second quarter of 2017. Apple's market share also saw slight growth, improving from 7 percent in Q2 2017 to 7.1 percent in Q2 2018.

gartner 2Q18 global

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q18 (Thousands of Units)

Apple's improved Mac sales come amid an overall increase in worldwide PC shipments, the first growth that's been seen in the last six years. Worldwide PC shipments totaled an estimated 62.1 million units in Q2 2018, up from 61.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Though Apple saw sales growth in Q2 2018, the company was ranked the number four PC vendor in the world, coming in behind Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Lenovo was the number one vendor with 13.6 million PCs shipped, followed by HP with just under 13.6 million and Dell with 10.5 million. Acer Group, the number five worldwide PC vendor, shipped 4 million PCs during the quarter.

Lenovo and HP are tied for 21.9 percent market share, followed by Dell at 16.8 percent and Apple, as previously mentioned, at 7.1 percent. All of the top five worldwide PC vendors saw shipment growth in Q2 2018 compared to last year.

"PC shipment growth in the second quarter of 2018 was driven by demand in the business market, which was offset by declining shipments in the consumer segment," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "In the consumer space, the fundamental market structure, due to changes on PC user behavior, still remains, and continues to impact market growth. Consumers are using their smartphones for even more daily tasks, such as checking social media, calendaring, banking and shopping, which is reducing the need for a consumer PC.

Apple saw less growth in the United States, shipping an estimated 1.84 million Macs, up from 1.81 in the year-ago quarter, an increase of 1.7 percent. Apple was also the number four vendor in the U.S., coming in behind HP (#1), Dell (#2), and Lenovo (#3). Apple holds 12.7 percent of the PC market in the United States, compared to 14.9 percent for Lenovo, 28.6 percent for Dell, and 29.3 percent for HP.

gartner 2Q18 us

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q18 (Thousands of Units)

Almost all top vendors in the U.S. saw shipment growth, with the exception of HP, which saw shipments fall 0.6 percent. Acer Group had the best quarter in the United states with 25.7 percent growth. Overall U.S. shipments were up 1.7 percent, with a total of 14.5 million PCs shipped during the quarter, compared to 14.3 million in Q2 2017.

gartner 2Q18 trend

Apple's Market Share Trend: 1Q06–2Q18 (Gartner)

It's important to note that data from Gartner is preliminary, and that the numbers can shift, sometimes dramatically and sometimes less so. Last year, for example, Gartner estimated Q2 2017 worldwide Mac shipments at 4.236 million when the actual number was 4.266 million.

Apple's Mac sales could grow significantly next quarter and through the end of 2018. Apple today introduced new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with improved processors, more maximum RAM, higher-capacity SSDs, True Tone displays, and more.

The rest of Apple's Mac lineup, including iMacs, MacBooks, and the Mac mini, is also expected to get a refresh before the end of 2018.

Update: IDC also released its Q2 2018 worldwide PC estimates, suggesting Apple shipped 4.308 million Macs, compared to 4.303 million in the year-ago quarter for growth of just 0.1 percent. IDC also ranked Apple as the number four worldwide vendor and according to IDC's estimates, worldwide PC shipments were up 2.7 percent overall.

Tag: Gartner

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...

Top Rated Comments

some_random_guy Avatar
91 months ago
As usual Macrumor's giving great emphasis on the Mac. But the reality, considering data is right, is clearly shown in the figures.

Lenovo 20.1% -> 21.9%
HP 20.9% -> 21.9%
Dell 15.6% -> 16.8%
Apple 7.0% -> 7.1%

Dell and Lenovo are gaining a lot more traction (9.5% and 6.1% growth respectively compared to Apple's 3.0%)
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DakotaGuy Avatar
91 months ago
As usual Macrumor's giving great emphasis on the Mac. But the reality, considering data is right, is clearly shown in the figures.

Lenovo 20.1% -> 21.9%
HP 20.9% -> 21.9%
Dell 15.6% -> 16.8%
Apple 7.0% -> 7.1%

Dell and Lenovo are gaining a lot more traction (9.5% and 6.1% growth respectively compared to Apple's 3.0%)
Well the growth those other companies are experiencing is because they are still committed to the PC and investing in new PC products. Apple's Mac business is more of a sideline business to them and phones and tablets are their main focus. Apple is selling mainly on brand name and to a loyal user base. No company that "cares" about their PC business has products available today that have not been updated since 2013.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
91 months ago
Imagine Apple’s market share if their machines were just 10% more affordable. But then Apple would be left with a measly 30% profit. Wall St. can’t be having that now, can they. After all, look what happened the bankers after the bailout—champagne for all!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
No. 44 Avatar
91 months ago
Does anybody make keyboard with 4 years of warranty?
No, because nobody else makes a keyboard that can be completely crippled by a speck of dust...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
donster28 Avatar
91 months ago
Apple's Faulty Keyboard Shipments increase...
Let's stop it with the faulty keyboard scenario already. Not most people are being affected. It is overrated and was started by a Mac hater that quickly escalated and supported by more Mac haters. Now don't quote me on that...;)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NinjaHERO Avatar
91 months ago
It seems like the lack of a spike in sales the last few years shows you that Apple isn't making machines that grab people anymore. I could be wrong, but that graph looks like it shows a spike every time a model update came out. Until the last few years. Then fairly steady as no one is excited about touchbars and a lack of ports.

Then again I hate the touchbar and a lack of dedicated media keys, so I'm biased. :-)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)