In spite of discounts on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and even Thanksgiving Day, Apple's MacBook line of computers saw a 6 percent decrease in U.S. sales over the five-week-long 2012 holiday sales period.
Sales of Mac hardware to U.S. businesses grew by 49.4 percent year over year in the September quarter, posting continued growth while PC sales shrank.
Domestic sales figures from the first month of Apple's holiday quarter have signaled the company is on track to sell 4.8 million Macs in the three-month period, representing a decrease from last year.
Estimates released Wednesday from market research firms show overall U.S. PC shipments fell nearly 14 percent year-to-year in the third quarter of 2012, while Apple's share shrunk 6.1 percent over the same period.
Apple is on pace to see a record breaking September quarter with sales of 5.1 million Macs in the three-month span, according to the latest data.
Total Web usage of Apple's OS X operating system has exceeded Microsoft's Windows Vista, while for the first time, Windows 7 has topped Windows XP to become the world's largest operating system.
Combined Mac and iPad sales reached more than 21 million in the second quarter of 2012, giving Apple a 19.4 percent share of all PC shipments.
Apple's iPad is expected to continue dominating the tablet market with a share higher than 60 percent, while PC sales are projected to continue their downward trend, according to a new analysis.
Estimated quarterly PC shipments show the overall U.S. market declined 5.7 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2012 while Apple grew 4.3 percent.
Growth in Mac sales was led by the Asia-Pacific region last quarter, where shipments increased by 40 percent year over year.
While sales of the iPad are replacing Mac purchases for some customers, one new analysis concludes that's a good thing, as growth and market share opportunities for tablets provide more potential for Apple.
Apple saw its domestic Mac shipments grow to 10.6 percent of the market in the first quarter of 2012, as the company once again grew while the rest of the PC market saw its shipments slide. [Updated with additional data from IDC]
Mac business sales grew a massive 50.9 percent at the end of 2011, easily outpacing Apple's market leading overall growth in Mac sales.
PC sales in Europe plummeted in the fourth quarter of 2011, but Apple bucked that trend over the holidays, particularly in France and the U.K., with continued strong growth.
Apple's growth story in China now extends beyond the iPhone and iPad, with Mac sales there also continuing to outpace the U.S. in terms of year over year growth, according to a new report.
The latest U.S. sales data from the NPD Group suggests Apple sold around 4.9 million Macs last quarter, a number that will likely be seen as a mild disappointment on Wall Street.
The launch of the $199 Amazon Kindle Fire had a detrimental effect on iPad sales for Apple, but the company is still expected to report record sales this quarter, a new report states.
The latest domestic sales data from the NPD Group shows the Mac lineup demonstrating 13 percent year over year growth in the first two months of the current quarter, a growth number Wall Street watchers expect Apple will handily exceed when the December quarter is concluded.
Apple is poised to become the largest seller of PCs in the world before the second half of 2012, if the iPad is categorized as a PC.
Fueled by strong gains in Asia Pacific during the September quarter, Apple saw its worldwide share of the PC market pass the 5 percent mark for the first time in 15 years, according to a new analysis.
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John Virata
Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Sam Oliver
Katie Marsal
Slash Lane
Josh Ong
