Mac Shipments Up in Q3 2020 Amid Worldwide PC Market Growth

Apple's worldwide Mac shipments saw decent growth in the third quarter of 2020, according to new preliminary PC shipping estimates shared this afternoon by Gartner.

gartner 3Q20 global

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q20 (Thousands of Units)

Apple shipped an estimated 5.5 million Macs during the quarter, up 7.3 percent from the 5.1 million that it shipped in the third quarter of 2019. Apple's marketshare grew from 7.5 percent to 7.7 percent, and while it fared well, some PC manufacturers saw even higher shipment growth.

Acer and ASUS, for example, saw significant growth with shipments increasing 29.5 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively, over 2019 shipment numbers. Neither sold enough PCs to topple Apple's position as the number four worldwide PC vendor, however.

Lenovo, the number one worldwide PC vendor, shipped an estimated 18 million PCs, up from 16.9 million in the year-ago quarter for 8.3 percent growth. HP's shipments were up slightly with 15.5 million PCs shipped, while Dell saw a slight decline, shipping 10.8 million PCs compared to 11.3 million in the third quarter of 2019.

gartner 3Q20 trend

Apple's Market Share Trend: 1Q06-3Q20 (Gartner)

PC shipments were up this year due to the ongoing global health crisis, which has resulted in people working and learning from home.

"This quarter had the strongest consumer PC demand that Gartner has seen in five years," said Mikako Kitagawa, research director at Gartner. "The market is no longer being measured in the number of PCs per household; rather, the dynamics have shifted to account for one PC per person. While PC supply chain disruptions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely resolved, this quarter saw shortages of key components, such as panels, as a result of this high consumer demand.

Apple saw similar growth in the United States, shipping an estimated 2.4 million Macs in the U.S., up seven percent from the 2.3 million that it shipped in Q3 2019. Apple was also the number four vendor in the United States, trailing after HP, Dell, and Lenovo. All PC vendors in the U.S. saw growth, and the U.S. PC market was up 11.4 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, marking the most significant U.S. PC shipment growth in 10 years.

HP continues to be the number one U.S. vendor with 5.1 million PCs shipped, followed by Dell with 4.1 million PCs shipped, and Lenovo with 2.5 million PCs shipped.

gartner 3Q20 us

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q20 (Thousands of Units)

IDC also released its own shipment estimates this afternoon, which are wildly different from Gartner's when it comes to Apple's sales. According to IDC, Apple shipped an estimated 6.9 million Macs, up 38.9 percent from the 5 million shipped in the third quarter of 2019.

IDC also positions Apple as the number four worldwide vendor, trailing Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Gartner and IDC have different metrics for their measurements, which perhaps explains some of the discrepancy in numbers. Gartner counts desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, and ultramobile premiums, but not Chromebooks or iPads.

The numbers from IDC include desktops, notebooks, and workstations, but not tablets or x86 servers. IDC and Gartner's data is based on estimates, and because Apple no longer provides specific breakdowns of Mac sales, it is difficult to confirm exact numbers.

Apple may see a surge in Mac sales in the coming months as it prepares to transition its entire Mac lineup from Intel's chips to its Arm-based Apple Silicon chips. The first Macs with ‌Apple Silicon‌ chips are expected to arrive before the end of the year.

Tags: Gartner, IDC

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

Scoob Redux Avatar
59 months ago

SD card readers. nVidia graphics. HDMI/USB port. 5G/LTE. Smaller bezels. No Touch Bar. Aluminum that won't scratch like paper. MagSafe.
Those things would make the computer versatile, user-friendly and productivity-focused. So, that's a hard "No" from Apple.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
59 months ago

Lenovo, the number one worldwide PC vendor, shipped an estimated 18 million Macs, up from 16.9 million
Might need to fix that typo :)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
59 months ago

Wait until Arm Macs, especially if they are faster and cheaper.
Faster? Highly likely imo. I doubt they'd intro computers on a new architecture for them to only equal what they already have.

Cheaper? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Nah, I just funnin' ya. But seriously, hahahahahhahahaha. :D :D
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
59 months ago

I wonder how much custom PCs would factor into this chart? Or do they even measure that?
I would think the number is statistically insignificant. If it's counted at all, I'd think it would fall into the Other category.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TakeshimaIslands Avatar
59 months ago

Damn, what changed with Acer?! They're on fire this year!
working and studying from home due to the virus caused a massive surge in value laptop sales. You dont need a $2k macbook pro to run Gsuite or MS teams.

Also as with ASUS they was the first to widely adopt the superior AMD mobile Ryzen chips in their laptops which would also cause a sales boost , I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason for intel friendly dells deline in sales
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Justin Cymbal Avatar
59 months ago
I bought the new 13 inch MacBook Pro in May and it works great!

I think Mac shipments are going to continue to rise as more people are working and studying from home nowadays. I’m looking forward to Apple reporting their quarterly results at the end of this month
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)