Mac sales are down, iPad sales are up in the first quarter of 2023

PC (desktops, notebooks and workstations) shipments in the U.S. declined year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. And the news was mixed for Apple.

PC sales declined 28% year-over-year to 14 million units during the time period. Notebook (including mobile workstations) shipments fell 31% to 11.4 million units, while desktop (including desktop workstations) shipments were down 28% to 2.7 million units. 

Apple sold approximately 1.7 million Macs in the first quarter of 2023 for 12.2% of the U.S. PC market (Canalys doesn’t count iPads as PCs). That compares to sales of 2.7 million and 16.7% market share in the first quarter of 2022. That’s a decline of 35% year-over-year.

Ahead of Apple in the PC market in the US, as of the first quarter of 2023, are Dell (3.8 million units sold, 27.1% market share); HP (3.7 million units sold; 26.6% market share); and Lenovo (2.1 million units sold, 15.1% market share).

Despite the short-term struggle, Canalys says it anticipates a market recovery on the horizon. US PC shipments in quarter four of 2023 are expected to grow 6% year-on-year while full-year shipments in 2024 are forecasted to be 13% higher than in 2023.  

Canalys says tablets performed better than traditions PCs, with shipments dropping just 7% to 10.8 million units, largely driven by Apple’s strong iPad performance.

In the first quarter of 2023, the tech giant sold 5.4 million tablets in the U.S. for 50% market share. That compares to sales of 4.5 million units and 38.6% market share in the first quarter of 2022. The iPad saw annual growth of 20.5% year-over-year.