“Based on data from Gartner and IDC, AllThingsD reported that it was a very bad year for PC shipments, except at Apple,” Tom Reestman reports for The Small Wave.
“I have a problem with that,” Reestman reports. “It isn’t that it’s not true, but rather that PC growth vs. Apple is even worse than reported. To see why, let’s look at the chart from Gartner for US ‘PC’ shipments, where the conclusion is that Apple growth increased 20.7% while PC growth declined 5.9%.”
Reestman reports, “It makes sense until you realize Apple’s (i.e., Mac) data is included in the same total to which it’s being compared… The originally reported dismal “PC” growth of -5.9% becomes an even more dismal -8.5% without Apple’s numbers propping it up. That -2.6% delta is not insignificant, it’s over 40% worse than what was reported.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We often suggest that Gartner and IDC back out the Mac numbers to give a truer picture of what’s happening in the land of Windows PCs (a.k.a. hell).
Trust & Quality.
Apple built its reputation and now virtually anyone with a NEED for the best laptop looks toward Apple; even if you need Windows as I do part time.
Hey, even if you use Windows all the time, the Mac is the best Windows machine you can buy.
I concur, dslarsen. I’ve been telling all of my Windows colleagues that if they absolutely MUST support the “Dark Side,” they should buy a Mac and use either Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMWare to make the very best of a bad OS.
We’re reaching the tipping point.
The noteworthy point here is that the Mac segment is now large enough to have a significant impact on the overall PC industry’s sales. Not too long ago, it was just a “rounding error.” 🙂
Now, lets include iPads…
Look, the pie is only so big. As the economy goes, each year the chef can only make a pie just so big, some years bigger some years smaller.
Now stop crying on how it’s getting sliced. Just wait, maybe you will get stuck with a rhubarb pie, instead of a nice juicy Apple pie.
I’ve never worried about Apple’s number being under-reported.
It allowed rivals to overlook Apple until there was such a momentum that Apple became unstoppable.
Noot an obvious threat…never saw us coming.
The apple tree is full of apples!
The growth declined? Niiice. So the growth declined or the actual market?
RTA
Actual units sold declined.
Also, the numbers do not include returned Christmas product…
“Mom, I wanted an iPad…”
Gartner & IDC don’t consider iPads to be computers, so they’re not included in these numbers.
Yet.
still, a returned PC is a returned PC.
Amazing turnaround of reality since the iPhone debut in 2007.
2007 MacWorld w/Steve started the new world order.
It took only seconds for Anyone who had half a brain to understand how people would soon select options & choices as soon as products could be released.
Touch organized in intuitive ways is virtually a natural human movement that we learned as early children pushing Cheerios around the high chair serving surface.
The failure of other CEOs and marketing types to instantly recognize that ought to be a sign they are long past retirement…Mr. Balmer…Mr. Dell.
“The failure of other CEOs and marketing types to instantly recognize that ought to be a sign they are long past retirement…Mr. Balmer…Mr. Dell.”
No, no, no….
May they remain in their positions… for as long as it takes!
I agree! They are doing fine. Give them time. Lots of it! 😉
Given that Windows 7 would largely get the job done — admit it, people get work done on PC’s — for me, PC hardware just looks disgusting. If a PC maker came up with a beautiful notebook as pristine as a MacBook Air, my world would not come to an end if I had to switch back to PC. And I make this statement as a Mac user since the early MacPlus days.
I just don’t know why the designers of these PC corporations just can’t come up with incredible design. Get them to hire some Scandinavian or Italian designers, and put some flair into the design. It’s so bleeding obvious.
You make it sound like the primary difference is the aesthetics of the computer case. I don’t follow you. Although I concur that Apple’s computer designs are superior, it is OS X and the entire Mac ecosystem including iOS devices that means the most to me. Macs could be homely and I would still use them over Windows PCs. I just wouldn’t be as proud when I pulled my Mac laptop out of its bag.
The world would not end if everyone had to switch to a Windows PC, but it would much poorer for the loss. I agree that a computer is just a tool, but I much prefer the Mac over the alternative. I have used a variety of computer platforms since the 1970s, and I have found the modern Mac to be the best for my needs. Perhaps most importantly, it requires less administrative time and eliminates most of the worry about malware. And the Mac ecosystem that blends iOS devices with OS X computers is the best option on the market.
I can use a Windows PC and could, if forced to do so, switch to a Windows PC in the future. But I will do everything reasonably possible to avoid that fate.
Yes, an Italian designer. They could paint it Ferrari Red and have real Ferrari engine noise for the startup sound.
What? It’s already been done and nobody bought them because they were too expensive.
I guess the forgotten Net Books have set the celling for Windows laptops at less than $500.
Shhh! You’ll get Enderle excited.
Except the operating is just as ugly as the hardware.
“If a PC maker came up with a beautiful notebook as pristine as a MacBook Air, my world would not come to an end if I had to switch back to PC. And I make this statement as a Mac user since the early MacPlus days.”
Really? lol! I mean.. really? When I first went into the Mac fold, my “Mac” was a clone. It was called a PowerComputing PowerCenter 120. That beige thing I bought looked ugly as hell. I didn’t care about the looks, though, because it was the operating system that counted. That still is the important factor today. No matter how pretty the outside is, it’s the Mac OS X and software that will keep me coming back to Apple for products.
I fix computers for a living. I have to use and FIX Windows 7 incessantly. Windows 7 is bullshit. The viruses and malware found on Windows systems are terrifying and real! lol… I know computers and that’s why I use a Macintosh.
When you buy a computer, it’s the insides and operating system that matter more than the outer shell it’s packaged in. Hopefully I saved you from infinite sadness by rectifying your beliefs that Windows is on par with Mac systems… they aren’t.
Then again, I do computer repair for a living. So, if you opt for a Windows system, I’m going to be your new friend guaranteed. LOL! Avoid me by buying a Mac 😉
,.. beyond Windows 7 malware and viruses, Apple’s Mac OS X’s user interface is extremely nicer than any other alternatives such as Windows 7. You truly appreciate it when you experience Apple’s products, and are forced to compare it with Windows systems on a daily basis. From experience, trust me. Stick with your Mac and never go back.
It was obvious the Wintel Wall would fall at some point,
regardless who was leading Apple!
So to all you Mac-made-Windows-decline deniers…..It’s settled!
Move On!!!
It wasn’t obvious. They owned the town. The sheriff, the judge, the coroner were all in Microsoft’s pocket. They owned the James Gang, Billy the Kid, and Johnny Ringo. American business intel saw this and held fast until the last. Only now are these craven bastards coming out of the woodwork and simpering a different tune. It’s high time that the smug pundits and the braying jackasses got their comeuppance.
Or maybe it’s just me…
+1. Not just you, js. You nailed the sentiment.
Nonsense. Apple uses only Intel chips in Macs and that’s one of major reasons for Mac success. Apple uses only the best chips in their design. You are confusing Intel as Apple competitor – actual relationship is much more complicated but Intel is a chip maker so you can’t bin it together with Samsung for example. Intel treats Apple very preferentially and Steve had a lot of praise for the collaboration of the two.
I believe Janes use of “intel” and your use of “Intel” are two different animals, Palaver. Read more closely before calling something nonsense when you are in fact not capable of understanding what is being said.
correctu, I lol’d. I didn’t even realize it was possible to misunderstand “American business intel” until that guy posted. Well, it *is* the Internet after all…
Go for it Jane….and you could add in the town rent-a-mob braying like donkeys on the sidelines.
‘Craven’. Gotta love that word.
But…there’s always a but, it’s not as though mass enlightenment has broken out. They’ve just transferred their stupidity en-bloc to the Android camp – speeds and feeds, market share, iPhone is doomed, niche product, blah blah blah…
So sorry, but ‘comeuppance’ is like revenge – a dish best sampled cold
I’m afraid my silly correlations were lost on y’all.
I’ll take the blame….
Ehhhhhhh, more rounding errors. You just wait! Windows 8 is gonna be killer! Those expensive Apple toys are certainly doomed.
The day will come when flip phrases like “expensive Apple toys” will draw a blank stare. That day can’t come soon enough for us legacy sufferers. The stench of revenge is riding the wind. The end is nigh for the pandering, perverted, deluded fools that allowed themselves to be mesmerized by snake-oil peddlers and pressed into service as mouthpieces for the moribund operating system known as Windows.
I have a dream, that people will rise up and say, Who the f*** needs Windows? Free at last, Lord Almighty. Free at last!
BMWTwisty is just a tool, js. Either that, or he failed at his attempt at sarcasm. Regardless, Apple devices have been quite cost competitive for most of the last decade. Companies that have attempted to compete head-to-head have struggled to meet Apple’s price points. Even a $400M subsidy by Intel is not going to magically bring Wintel Ultrabooks up to MBA standards. Price was the last ace in the hole for Wintel vendors. Now all that they have left is cheapness. That strategy failed miserably with netbooks and Apple doesn’t compete in that area. Good luck with that.
I think you missed the Sarcasm tag in Twisty’s rant, sweetie.
Jane is normally missing the point in her nonsense posts.
althegeo…
Your perception of “sarcasm” is a stark contrast from my perception of BMWTwisty being a stale, also ran troll, “sweetie”.
Palaver…
What exactly was the point? … Jane’s comments here on MDN have been a breath of fresh air compared to alternatives such as yours. Good job condemning people with intellect. I guess that intimidates you for obvious reasons.
Question: What is the best Windows Ultrabook?
Answer: The Apple MacBook Air. (Yeah, it runs Windows).
2012: The year of wannabe OtherAirs.
The death of the Wintel PC is still a long way off. Apple has a long way to catch up since there are so many key corporations that won’t use anything except Windows-based computers. They also like buying the cheapest crap they can get their hands on, too.
One might think companies could just replace their aging Wintel PCs with MacMinis but it’s not going to happen because I doubt that many MacMinis are being built by Apple. Apple just can’t possibly supply all those computer systems that would need to be replaced. I’m pretty sure Wall Street isn’t seeing Apple as taking the place of Wintel PCs in the near future or else they wouldn’t keep saying that Apple has such limited growth potential.
I have a feeling this Microsoft’s quarter earnings are going to be rather weak but they’ll manage to explain it away due to the floods in Thailand and not from any pressure due to Apple product sales.
A.T. If Wintel PCs are not being made due to low demand then the oriental factories, that used to make them, will have the space, workers and knowhow to assemble Apple’s PC replacements.
If the industry has the capacity to make 300 million computers and the number of Wintel computers ordered are only 200 million, then Apple could order 100 million Macs if the demand warranted it.
“…but they’ll manage to explain it away due to the floods in Thailand and not from any pressure due to Apple product sales.”
I believe that MS has already started laying groundwork for this excuse.
“Microsoft is telegraphing bad news”
PC sales had nowhere to go but down, everyone knew that. It doesn’t mean that the end game is near.
As usual, MDN plays it both ways. When Apple sales disappoint, then unit margin is highlighted. When Apple sales improve — buoyed by a tablet product that brings in lower margin than laptops or desktops — then MDN gloats about sales volume.
Bottom line, Apple is doing great. But to use an automotive analogy: don’t start predicting that Porsche is creaming Toyota. Millions of buyers did, do, and always will buy the cheaper product, not the most refined product.
The only company that makes money selling PCs is Apple.
HP sells ink and toner. Microsoft sells Windows and Office. Samsung sells TVs. The list goes on and on. Dell sells and services servers. Everyone else making PCs loses money on that part of their business.
As an Apple user (since the Apple ][), I’d be happy if Apple just stay who they are – elegant products that add value and satisfaction. As an investor, I’m even happy if they stay high-margin, elitist products, that the ‘average’ consumer desires so much that some find ways to acquire them (in many cases, this actually means that they work harder to be able to afford such things in their lives).
What I do NOT want to see is Apple become commoditized so completely that they become the next Microsoft, Gateway, or Dell. They should NEVER give up their high margins because that would imply that they no longer have that special something that makes them more desirable than they are valuable.
F that Mr. Shareholder … the cheaper the better.
Lower margins doesn’t equate to less quality, so I’d love to see more reasonable pricing of Apple products. Let everyone have a taste of the best, ya snob.
It’s easy for people to talk like you do when they profit at the demise of the consumer.
i.e. Your convenient talk is bullshit.
None of this really means anything until IT starts to adopt OSX and Apple as a platform as a standard laptop/desktop option. That’s happened at a few places but not many. Even if OSX has the tools for Enterprise to lock the systems down, it hasn’t been transparent enough and/or integrated enough with Windows (i.e. AD, Exchange, etc) to be viable option.
I’m in consulting, they just issue us run of the mill Thinkpads, which do the job but lack the punch of a good Mac laptop. I would gladly use my own, but thats against corp policy. Why, because they cant lock the system down and enforce hard drive encryption, etc. using their current Windows tools and environment.