Apple sales grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009, causing its U.S. marketshare to reach 8.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009, a slight improvement over the 8.6 percent posted during the same period in 2008, a report on global PC sales shows. The numbers came amid signs consumers purchasing mobile computers drove sales during the period. Some 17.8 million PCs were sold overall in the U.S. during the third quarter, a 3.9 percent increase from 2008.
The Cupertino, Calif. company shipped 1.5 million computers during the third quarter of 2009. By contrast, Apple shipped 1.4 million in the same quarter last year. Many of those sales were part of back-to-school sales, a critical part of the U.S. growth, according to Gartner.
Apple remains in fourth place in U.S. marketshare, behind Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer.
“The consumer mobile PC market drove U.S. shipment growth in the third quarter of 2009, fueled by back to school sales,” principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement. However, the sales growth came at a cost: prices. Prices fell more than 20 percent compared to 2008 as consumers were “relentlessly looking for bargains,” she said.
Although Dell clung to its market lead, shipments fell 8.9 percent during the third quarter. Acer lead the pack with a 61 percent jump in shipments, its U.S. marketshare leaping to 13.9 percent from a previous 9 percent. Likewise, Toshiba shipments rose nearly 49 percent, giving the company an 8 percent U.S. marketshare.
In related news, Gartner predicted the introduction of Windows 7 “should have minimal impact on PC unit growth.” However, the need to replace hardware, coupled with the more favorable economic environment and the upcoming holiday buying season could “artificially affect shipment volumes during the third and fourth quarters of 2009.”
Look for consumers and small business to comprise early Windows 7 purchases with corporate buyers waiting on the sidelines until late 2010, according to Gartner.
[Via Gartner]
