Gartner’s Mac sales report is even more dismal than that of IDC

Earlier today the IDC research group issued a report that Mac sales were down 23.1% year-over-year in the third quarter (3Q23)) of 2023. Now the Gartner reports the same thing — except it has an even worse picture for Apple personal computers. 

This research group says Apple saw its personal computer sales drop 24.2% year-over-year from 3Q22 to 3Q23. Apple’s shipments declined sharply compared to a year ago, in part because its shipment volume increased significantly in 3Q22 once supply disruptions from earlier in 2022 due to China’s lockdown had eased, according to Gartner. In the third quarter of 2023, Apple’s shipments followed seasonal trends, primarily driven by demand from students and educators.

Still, Apple remains in fourth place among global PC vendors with 9.7% market share and sales of 6.3 million Macs in 3Q23. That compares to 11.7% market share and sales of 11.7 million in the year-ago quarter. 

Ahead of Apple in global PC market share are: Lenovo (25.1% market share); HP (21% market share); and Dell (16.1% market share), per Gartner. Also note that neither Gartner nor IDC count tablets such as the iPad as a personal computer. If it did, Apple’s market share would be much higher. 

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. While the third quarter’s results mark the eighth consecutive quarter of decline for the global PC market, the research group is expecting to see growth again starting in the fourth quarter of this year.