As measured by sales through the U.S. consumer retail market, Mac laptop sales increased 27% year-to-date and Windows notebooks grew 3% during the first half of 2015, according to the NPD group.
Overall, tablets sales slowed their decline, down 7% following a 12% decline in the first half of 2014. iPads dropped nearly 20% and Android Tablets 8%t, but Windows tablets (primarily Surface) saw a 35 percent sales increase over the prior year.
“In B2B channels the notebook remains the device of choice for the vast amount of purchasers, with sales volumes more than triple that of tablets,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis, The NPD Group, Inc. “For B2B productivity and the best mix of affordability, form and function, the notebook remains the workhorse device purchased through B2B channels for businesses, education, and government organizations.”
While Chromebooks have seen strong demand, it has not necessarily impacted Windows notebooks and MacBooks, which both also posted sales increases, totaling 6% and 42%, respectively, according to NPD.
“The results from the end of Q2 and the first half of July are good news for all the major notebook platforms,” says Baker. “Windows was not impacted by the upcoming release of Windows 10, MacBooks grew the most of any platform, and Google saw Chrome rise to take the number one spot in market share. All these results continue to point to strong channel demand for PCs and continue to belie the notion that any other devices are threatening the long-term business case for the notebook.”
According to Joe Wilcox of betanews, NPD’s stats show that Mac laptop revenues rose by 10.9% during the first six months of 2015, year over year, while Windows PCs fell by 9 %.
“MacBook Pro is far and away the largest volume with MacBook Air second, and MacBook third,” Baker told Wilcox. “The new MacBooks have made a tiny dent in the overall market, and the shares for MBP and MBA are pretty similar in 2015 to 2014—for the first 6 months combined
