Macs Earned Apple $21.5 Billion In 2013

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(Credit: Fortune)
(Credit: Fortune)

The Macintosh may be celebrating its thirtieth birthday today, but three decades on it’s no longer Apple’s flagship device — coming a distant third to the iPhone and iPad (although still ahead of iTunes — for now.)

But just how many Macs did Apple sell last year?

Combing through the data, Fortune created the above infographic, which shows the Mac’s fluctuating sales throughout 2013: starting off weakly in Q1 when a missed iMac deadline signaled the end of a 26-quarter streak in which Mac sales outpaced those of the PC industry. In all, Macs generated $21.5 billion for Apple in fiscal 2013 — representing one eighth of the company’s total revenue.

Fortune also asked a panel of 45 analysts for their Q1 2014 predictions with regards to Mac sales. As the publication explains:

“Of the 45 heard from so far — 28 pros and 17 amateurs — all but three believe Apple sold more Macs this quarter than it did in the same quarter last year.

As a group, their average estimate for Q1 2014 is 4.6 million Macs — up 13% year over year. The average among the pros is 4.58 million; the independents are at 4.63 million.

Last year it was the pros (at 4.35 million) who were more bullish. As it turned out, the amateurs could have been even more cautious than they were. Their average estimate was 4.17 million Macs; Apple sold 4.06 million.”

Of course, when you’re dealing with such a wide spread it’s tough to be accurate in terms of sales figures — which is why analyst estimates veer so wildly from 3.83 million (Glen Yeung from Citigroup) to 5.20 million (T. Michael Walkley, Canaccord Genuity.)

Ultimately, we’ll find out who was closest to the mark when Apple reports its actual Q1 1014 earnings when markets close next Monday, January 27.

Source: Fortune

 

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