Worldwide PC (personal computer, not necessarily Windows devices) shipments totaled 61.7 million units in the first quarter of 2018, a 1.4% decline from the first quarter of 2017, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. The PC market experienced a 14th consecutive quarter of decline, dating back to the second quarter of 2012, although Apple’s Mac, once again, bucked the trend, adds the research group.
According to Gartner, Apple sold approximately 4.3 million Macs during the first quarter of 2018, compared to 4.2 in the first quarter of 2017. The Mac now has 6.9% of the global PC market, and 12.6% market share in the U.S., the research group adds.
Macs have gained global market share for 37 out of the last 39 quarters.
UNLESS
You go by IDC’s latest figures. This research group says worldwide shipments of traditional PCs (desktop, notebook, and workstation) totaled 60.4 million units and recorded flat (0.0%) year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2018. And IDC claims that Apple “only” sold 4 million Macs during the period, down from 4.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
Also note that neither Gartner or IDC count tablets as personal computers. If they did, that would make a huge difference in the market share rankings.
