Katie Marsal
U.S. shipments of Apple's Mac computer line grew 26 percent during the second quarter of 2007, according to just released data from market research firm IDC.
Apple's U.S. share is up from 4.8 percent during the year-ago quarter when it shipped 761,000 units, according to IDC's historical data.
The Cupertino-based Mac maker was bested only by Dell, HP and Gateway, respectively. Dell maintained its rank as the top U.S. vendor, having shipped 4.85 million units for a 28.4 percent U.S. share. However, it continued to see its share of the market eroded by rivals, registering a near 11 percent yearly decline.
For its part, HP grabbed a 23.6 percent share through shipments of just over 4 million units, representing 26 percent growth year-over-year. In third place was Gateway, having edged Apple by a mere 5000 units as it saw growth decline more than 7 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Overall, IDC said the PC market accelerated to 7.2 percent growth during the quarter as aggressive competition and repositioning continued following a slow second half of 2006. The notebook market remained particularly strong, driven by consumer retail and channel activity. Although Desktop shipments continued to contract, shipment volume was higher than anticipated, the firm said.
From a worldwide perspective, PC shipments grew by 12.5 during the quarter, with Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) returning as the fastest growing region with volume increasing more than 20 percent from the same quarter one year ago. IDC also cited competitive market in the United States as helping boost overall growth with other regions expanding in line with or slightly behind forecasts.
"This was another strong quarter that sets the stage for solid growth in the second half of 2007 and 2008," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. "The success of HP and Acer as well as the rapid changes occurring at Dell in recent quarters underline just how dynamic the PC market is these days. Despite the temptation to simplify, the market is not just about replacing systems at the lowest cost. System design, customer service, channel coverage, and market expansion are all playing key roles in winning business."
Apple did not rank amongst IDC's top worldwide PC vendors, and hence the company's worldwide shipment data was not available.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
37 Comments
I wonder how far off the bottom of the worldwide table they are... I'd imagine the US is Apple's major market, followed fairly closely by Europe, so perhaps they double what they sell in the US?
Congratulations, Apple (c'mon, Steve we know you read AppleInsider...admit it )!
I'd imagine the US is Apple's major market, followed fairly closely by Europe, so perhaps they double what they sell in the US?
In the second calendar quarter of 2006, Mac sales in the U.S. accounted for 57 percent of all Mac sales (760,000 out of 1.327 million). With 960,000 units sold in the U.S. this quarter, Apple will sell about 1.68 million Macs worldwide if the U.S./World ratio stays constant.
Good news, I sure hope this continues!
However looking at the table, even though we can see Apple move past anemic Gateway, I wouldn't be surprised if Acer and Lenevo (who are increasing share at more than twice Apple's rate) pass Apple. Dell continues to fall, but Apple is only picking up 1% a year, the others are picking up more. (One percent per year at its size is actually a sweet spot and I'm not sure Apple could do better and maintain quality.)
Still, it is good news and it is good for the industry as a whole to have a broader supply-side than one or two companies. If Apple can get to 10% in 5 years, that would be huge and a great foundation for further development on the next great platform/device of the future. By then, who knows how platform agnostic the internet and computing will become.
If only apple realeased a $100 PC and then sold like a billion of them to developing nations. They would all run a OSX too. If apple ever did that and they actually sold a large number, that would make the tables turn quite a bit.(i really dont wont this to happen and think that apple should instead focus on the high end of the market in all areas.)