For the first time in 15 years, Apple has five percent of the global PC market. The numbers are almost embarrassing: 24.6 percent third-quarter Mac sales growth that beat the pants off a PC industry limping along with just a 5.3 percent increase.
Record sales of 4.89 million Macs during the three-month 2011 calendar period helped Apple top the “magic 5 percent mark,” Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf told investors Wednesday. In June, Apple reported Mac sales were 4.7 percent of worldwide marketshare, up from 4.4 percent in 2010.
If that wasn’t enough to get your attention, Mac sales during 2011 “represented 20 percent of the growth in the worldwide PC shipments,” Wolf added. One company created a fifth of the growth for the entire industry. Oh, did I mention the September quarter was the 22nd straight period Mac sales blew the doors off the PC industry – and even beat its own records since 2006?
But the record sales were limited to the home market, right? The PC is still king at business. Wrong big time. Apple’s Mac sales grew 25.6 percent in the home, compared to 4 percent for PCs, sure. But Macs just ate PCs corporate breakfast, lunch and dinner, racking up a 43.8 percent versus 4.8 percent lead, according to Wolf.
What’s the source of all this growth? Look east toward China. Mac sales to China grew 57.2 percent during the September quarter with Japan helping with 49.6 percent of increased Mac demand. But China is the “key driver of growth” in the Asia Pacific region, Wolf said.
But it can’t be all good news for Apple, right? There has to be a cloud somewhere. True. Apple registered just 2.9 percent growth of Mac sales to the education market, versus 16.9 percent for the PC.
The drop in Mac sales to the classroom? That was because they bought iPads, instead — also made by Apple. Like I said, it’s almost embarrassing. Almost.
