Q3 Mac shipments fell dramatically, but that’s no surprise – 9to5Mac

Two different market intelligence agencies both reported that Q3 Mac shipments fell dramatically year-on-year, experiencing a far greater drop than competing PC makers.

IDC estimates that global Mac shipments fell 23.1% year-on-year, while Gartner has the number at 24.2%, against an overall PC market decline of around 8%. But neither number should be any great surprise …

PC shipments fell for all, except HP

Both IDC and Gartner paint a similar picture for the third quarter of the year, with around an 8% year-on-year fall for the market as whole.

IDC:

The downward spiral for PC shipments continued during the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23) as global volumes declined 7.6% year over year with 68.2 million PCs shipped, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation.

Gartner:

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 64.3 million units in the third quarter of 2023, a 9% decrease from the third quarter of 2022, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

HP was the only brand in the top five to experience growth, though this is said to essentially reflect resellers starting to reorder now that they’ve sold their existing excess stock.

Both firms agree that Q3 was likely the bottom of the market, with growth expected to begin again in the current quarter.

Q3 Mac shipments hit hardest

HP aside, PC brands saw shipment volumes down anywhere from 4.4% (Lenovo, Gartner estimate) to 14.3% (Dell, IDC estimate).

The fall in Mac shipments of either 23.1% or 24.2% dwarfs the contraction seen among PC brands.

But there’s good reason for this

Mac shipments saw huge growth during the pandemic, when working from home generated a substantial boost in demand for premium tech products, including Macs.

A combination of high demand and COVID-19-related supply problems meant that there was a lot of pent-up demand for Macs, which was satisfied when supply finally caught up with demand last year. That bumper year for Mac sales makes for a tough year-on-year comparison this year.

Ignoring that big bump, Mac shipments have returned to where they were pre-pandemic – and in a declining market, overall flat sales is good news.

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