Apple Mac grows in worldwide personal computer market share in third quarter

Apple’s indomitable Mac posted 10% YOY shipment growth in the worldwide personal computer market in the third quarter, increasing to 8.8% market share according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

Apple's family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini.
Apple’s family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini.

Global shipments of Traditional PCs, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, reached 86.7 million units during the third quarter of 2021 (3Q21), up 3.9% from the prior year according to preliminary results from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of growth for the PC market as the onset of the pandemic has led to a surge in demand while also contributing to component shortages and other supply challenges.

“The PC industry continues to be hampered by supply and logistical challenges and unfortunately these issues have not seen much improvement in recent months,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers, in a statement. “Given the current circumstances, we are seeing some vendors reprioritize shipments amongst various markets, allowing emerging markets to maintain growth momentum while some mature markets begin to slow.”

“Bottlenecked supply chains and ongoing logistic challenges led the U.S. PC market into its first quarter of annual shipment decline since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Neha Mahajan, senior research analyst, Devices and Displays at IDC, in a statement. “After a year of accelerated buying driven by the shift to remote work and learning, there’s also been a comparative slowdown in PC spending and that has caused some softening of the U.S. PC market today. Yet, supply clearly remains behind demand in key segments with inventory still below normal levels.”

Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Traditional PC Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q3 2021
(Preliminary results, shipments are in thousands of units)

Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, October 11, 2021
Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, October 11, 2021

Notes:
* IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide Traditional PC market when there is a difference of one tenth of one percent (0.1%) or less in the shipment shares among two or more vendors.
– Some IDC estimates prior to financial earnings reports. Data for all companies are reported for calendar periods.
– Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.
– Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations and do not include Tablets or x86 Servers. Detachable Tablets and Slate Tablets are part of the Personal Computing Device Tracker but are not addressed in this graph.

MacDailyNews Take: We pity those who waste their money in order to handicap themselves with slow, ugly Windows or Chrome PCs.

In more capable, less-distracted hands, Mac market share over the past ten years should have been built to at least double what it is today.

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9 Comments

  1. How is Dell managing to sell so many computers? Is their pricing that much better than the rest of the companies? Or does Dell make models that suit the enterprise better than Apple computers do? I’m thinking it’s just that Windows OS is more popular than macOS X. I guess, “Dude, you’re getting a Dell.” still applies.

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