Gartner: both global and US Mac sales were up annually as of quarter four of 2023

IDC says Mac sales were down drastically year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2023, while Canalys says Mac sales were up annually. Now a third research group, Gartner, has weighed in with good news for Apple.

Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments totaled 63.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2023, a 0.3% increase from the fourth quarter of 2022, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. This marks the first time that quarterly shipments have increased after eight straight quarters of decline. 

For the year, Gartner says that PC shipments reached 241.8 million units in 2023, a 14.8% decrease from 2022. This marks the first time that shipment volume has dipped below 250 million since 2006, when 230 million units were shipped. 

There were no changes in the top six vendor rankings in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, Gartner says there were mixed results in performance. Lenovo, HP, Apple, and Acer recorded year-over-year growth, while Dell and ASUS showed a decline.

Gartner says that, worldwide, Apple sold 6.3 million Macs in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to 5.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 for annual growth of 7.2%. Apple’s share of the global PC market increased from 9.4% to 10% year-over-year. Ahead of Apple are Lenovo (25.6% market share), HP (22% market share), and Dell (15.8% market share).

In the U.S. Gartner says that Apple sold 2.7 million Macs in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to 2.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 for annual growth of 14.5%. Apple’s share of the US personal computer market increased from 14.3% to 16.1% year-over-year. Ahead of Apple are HP (27.7% market share) and Dell (22.6% market share).

By the way, Gartner doesn’t count tablets such as the iPad as a personal computer.