Mac Shipments Down in Q4 2019 Amid Overall PC Market Growth

Apple's worldwide Mac shipments were down in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to new PC shipping estimates shared this afternoon by Gartner.

Apple shipped an estimated 5.26 million Macs during the quarter, down from 5.43 million in the year-ago quarter, a decline of three percent.

gartner 4Q19 global

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q19 (Thousands of Units)

Apple's market share was also down, dipping from 7.9 percent in Q4 2018 to 7.5 percent in Q4 2019. The drop in Apple's shipments comes as the overall PC market saw growth for the first time since 2011, driven by demands for Windows 10 upgrades.

Apple maintained its position as the number four PC vendor in the world, trailing behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell, all of which saw year-over-year growth.

Lenovo was the top PC vendor with 17.5 million shipments and 24.8 percent market share, followed by HP with 16.1 million shipments and 22.8 percent market share and Dell with 12.1 million PCs shipped and 17.2 percent market share.

Asus and Acer came in after Apple with around four million PCs shipped each and 5.8 and 5.7 percent market share, respectively. Aside from a small drop in Asus shipments, Apple was the only major PC vendor to see Q4 2019 shipments fall.

gartner 4Q19 trend

Apple's Market Share Trend: 1Q06-4Q19 (Gartner)

Apple fared a bit better in the United States, with shipments that were about stagnant. Apple shipped 2.13 million Macs in the U.S., up 0.8 percent from the 2.11 million that it shipped in the fourth quarter of 2018. Apple is the number four vendor in the U.S., coming in after HP, Dell, and Lenovo, with Microsoft coming in behind Apple. Overall U.S. PC shipments were also up 4.6 percent year over year.

gartner 4Q19 us

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q19(Thousands of Units)

For all of 2019, Apple's worldwide Mac shipments were down 0.9 percent, with Apple shipping an estimated 18.4 million Macs during the year compared to 18.5 million in 2018. Apple's overall 2019 market share came in at 7 percent, with Apple securing the number four spot after Lenovo (63 million PCs shipped), HP (58 million PCs shipped), and Dell (44 million PCs shipped).

gartner 2019 global

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2019 (Thousands of Units)

In the future, Gartner believes the PC market will continue to decline, despite the growth this year, though new technologies like foldable PCs are "something to keep an eye on."

Product innovation is one of the key factors that will enable the overall PC market to maintain sustainable growth. We've already started to see this through the 'foldable laptops' introduced at CES this past week along with initiatives that make PCs as easy as smartphones by allowing users to always be connected and ensuring a worry-free battery life. Such innovations that change user behavior and create new product segments are something to keep an eye on in 2020 and beyond,

IDC also released its own shipment estimates this afternoon, noting a similar decline in sales from Apple. IDC's data suggests Apple shipped 4.72 million Macs in Q4 2019, down from 4.98 million in the year-ago quarter.

IDC also notes the same decline in total 2019 shipments compared to 2018, suggesting Apple shipped an estimated 17.7 million Macs during the year, down from 18 million in 2018.

It's important to note that data from Gartner and IDC is estimated and not reflective of Apple's sales, though historically, it has not been far off. We used to be able to check estimated shipment data when Apple provided quarterly earnings releases with actual Mac sales information, but Apple no longer breaks out unit sales for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, making it impossible to determine exact sales numbers.

Apple's sales were down in 2019 despite the release of multiple new MacBook models, including the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and the new Mac Pro. It's not yet clear what Apple is planning for 2020, but thus far we haven't heard rumors of Mac upgrades that suggest a significant boost in sales is on the horizon.

Tags: Gartner, IDC

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Top Rated Comments

audioadrenaline Avatar
69 months ago
Good. It's about time Apple's arrogance and complacency caught up with them.
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
69 months ago
They'll get 'em next quarter with that new $6,000 desktop with the 256 GB SSD! ;)

Or the iMac with the spinning hard drive! ;)

Or the line-up of MacBooks that ship new under a keyboard extended repair program! ;)

They'll get 'em!
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cb3 Avatar
69 months ago
Drop the price and we will buy.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
canopic Avatar
69 months ago
I get by with my late 2013 macbook pro, stunning machine for it's time, but I'm in the market for a new Mac of some sort for a few years now, but almost everything is either not compelling or overpriced (maybe for overpriced I should instead say, not for me).

Lets see, what to get, what to get...

* A laptop with an effectively long proven broken keyboard
* A Macbook Pro 16 (great machine, not too crazily priced, well done Apple, just not for me).
* An iMac with a bezels from 2012, and not-great noisy cooling solution. (non-upgradable HDD on the 21 inch models by default, yuck)
* A Mac Pro setup that costs as much as a car
* An iMac pro that looks awesome in every way but bezel size, but costs almost as much as a second hand car.
* A mac mini with an onboard GPU that won't drive a 5k screen well at all, and can't even run basic Apple arcade games well and feels incredibly hot to the touch even in Apple store under 0 load. I'm also reading that it has a lot of little niggly problems with bluetooth range and the like.
* A mac mini with a blackmagic eGPU that costs as much as a similarly spec'd iMac, but with no screen.
* A mac mini with an non-blackmagic eGPU that doesn't drive a 5k monitor because it's not thunderbolt. (and bonus, the 4k 27" monitors it can drive don't scale well to MacOS)

I hope they update the iMac (bezels and iMac Pro cooling solution), and the rest of the laptop lineup with non-butterfly this year asap.

(Edited to be less snotty)
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bill Av Avatar
69 months ago
I've had my current iMac longer than any computer that I've ever bought. I go to Apple's website occasionally to see the latest prices. But when I see the cost to upgrade the SSD, I close the webpage.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bluespark Avatar
69 months ago
Doesn’t surprise me at all. The top makers of Windows laptops are building incredible machines now that are full of innovative features that are actually useful. They also offer multiple, reasonably-priced display and accessory options. I’ve been a Mac user for years, but I’m currently finding it difficult to justify a Mac purchase.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)