Apple's Macintosh is crushing the PC industry according to new reports on Tuesday from Gartner and IDC. Both companies show that Apple was the lone computer maker to see year-over-year gains in unit sales, while the rest of the industry took a faceplant.
IDC and Gartner both reported that Apple's global Mac sales increased some 2.8 percent year-over-year. While a modest increase, the market as a whole decreased 8.6 percent (Gartner) or 10.6 percent (IDC). Apple was the 5th largest computer maker on the planet with 7.5 percent of the market, according to Gartner, or 7.9 percent, according to IDC.
"The fourth quarter of 2015 marked the fifth consecutive quarter of worldwide PC shipment decline," Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said in a statement. "Holiday sales did not boost the overall PC shipments, hinting at changes to consumers’ PC purchase behavior. On the business side, Windows 10 generally received positive reviews, but as expected, Windows 10 migration was minor in the fourth quarter as many organizations were just starting their testing period."
Gartner didn't bother to offer specific commentary on Apple, the only company to buck the trend and increase sales, according to its report.
Gartner Table
| Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q15 (Thousands of Units) | |||||
|
|
4Q15 Shipments |
4Q15 Market Share (%) |
4Q14 Shipments |
4Q14 Market Share (%) |
4Q15-4Q14 Growth (%) |
|
Lenovo |
15,384 |
20.3 |
16,061 |
19.4 |
-4.2 |
|
HP |
14,206 |
18.8 |
15,452 |
18.7 |
-8.1 |
|
Dell |
10,236 |
13.5 |
10,783 |
13.1 |
-5.1 |
|
Asus |
6,002 |
7.9 |
6,201 |
7.5 |
-3.2 |
|
Apple |
5,675 |
7.5 |
5,519 |
6.7 |
2.8 |
|
Acer Group |
5,277 |
7.0 |
5,939 |
7.2 |
-11.2 |
|
Others |
18,940 |
25.0 |
22,635 |
27.4 |
-16.3 |
|
Total |
75,720 |
100.0 |
82,590 |
100.0 |
-8.3 |
IDC did comment on Apple's performance, saying: "Even as mainstream desktop and notebooks see their lifetimes stretched ever longer, Apple's emergence as a top 5 global PC vendor in 2015 shows that there can be strong demand for innovative, even premium-priced systems that put user experience first."
IDC Table
|
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Fourth Quarter 2015 (Preliminary) |
|||||
|
Vendor |
4Q15 Shipments |
4Q15 Market Share |
4Q14 Shipments |
4Q14 Market Share |
4Q15/4Q14 Growth |
|
1. Lenovo |
15,394 |
21.4% |
16,125 |
20.0% |
-4.5% |
|
2. HP |
14,290 |
19.9% |
15,900 |
19.8% |
-10.1% |
|
3. Dell |
10,169 |
14.1% |
10,780 |
13.4% |
-5.7% |
|
4. ASUS* |
5,713 |
7.9% |
5,668 |
7.0% |
0.8% |
|
4. Apple* |
5,658 |
7.9% |
5,504 |
6.8% |
2.8% |
|
Others |
20,664 |
28.7% |
26,460 |
32.9% |
-21.9% |
|
Total |
71,889 |
100.0% |
80,436 |
100.0% |
-10.6% |
|
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, January 12, 2016 |
|||||
Gartner and IDC both placed Apple in the #3 spot in the U.S. market with 12.8 percent (Gartner) and 12.7 percent (IDC) of the market.
While the reports from Gartner and IDC both make the Mac look awesome, these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. For one thing, Apple is one of the few computer makers to report actual sales. For another, Apple hasn't actually done so. In addition, all of these numbers are preliminary.
For more insight on Gartner and IDC, check out my review of their collective 2012 predictions for the smartphone market in 2015.