When you sell 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices in your first weekend on sale, it doesn’t just disrupt other smartphone companies, but notebook manufacturers as well.
According to a new report from Digitimes, notebook sales took a massive hit in August due to customers waiting on Apple’s new handsets. Since sales of the iPhone 6 family devices will most likely continue through the fourth quarter, many notebook vendors are reducing their orders from manufacturers to avoid unsold inventory piling up.
The report says that 2014 was originally viewed as being a good year for notebook sales, with demand picking up early in the year and building from there. In particular, retailers thought they were onto a good thing with Intel and Microsoft cooperating with Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and others to release a series of Core M processor-based 2-in-1 devices and 10-to-15-inch inexpensive notebooks.
However, once news about Apple’s new iPhone 6 started to spread, the massive increase in demand fell off a cliff, as everything became all about Apple.
Digitimes cites industry sources as saying that IT industry players are now targeting 2015 as their next big year — apparently unaware that Cupertino will be releasing its next generation iPhone and iPad devices then, too.
Of course, the two events could be unrelated, but it seems an interesting coincidence that Apple’s biggest iPhone yet would happen to align neatly with a fall-off in demand for notebooks. Interestingly, while PC sales have plummeted in recent years, Mac sales have grown 18 percent year over year.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
4 responses to “iPhone 6 is so good it’s even eating into notebook sales”
I would like to see how they came to that conclusion.
This is easy to explain with the simplest of economics. You only have so much money to spend. If you buy one thing then you cannot afford another. On my limited budget I find that I cannot afford everything so I have to pick and choose my luxuries. If I bought an iPhone then I can’t afford a laptop at the same time, even if I want it.
With that in mind I’m not getting an iPhone 6, simply because my iPhone 5 is still working great. I’m trying to discipline myself to wait until my old devices actually need replacing and only then getting the latest and greatest. I did, just a few minutes ago, take a phone call on my iPad Air — because of iOS 8. So I’m largely getting the benefits of the new OS with my older iPhone.
A wise man once said that you should get a new device when you need a new device. The next big thing is always around the corner and no matter what device/system you are in, it will be wonderful when you upgrade. So when the battery starts to die, or you can no longer upgrade the system, or a truly killer feature that would benefit you comes along, keep saving for the time when it makes sense to buy.
“Interestingly, while PC sales have plummeted in recent years, Mac sales have grown 18 percent year over year.”
Part of the reason why Mac sales are doing so well, while other PC sales are dropping, might have to do with the “halo effect” of the growth in sales of iPhones.
There have been polls taken which have shown that a large proportion of the iPhone 5s buyers were coming from other platforms, and more recently that proportion is even larger with sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Most of those people who are migrating from other platforms, are not Mac users. Once they own an iPhone the benefits of also using a Mac becomes clear due to the integration of both iOS and OS X, and the shared Apple services (iTunes, iCloud, etc.).
With iOS 8 having Continuity and Handoff, that integration becomes an even stronger incentive to buy a Mac.
… Or, it could just be that The American Customer Satisfaction Index has again named Apple Inc. as the top personal computer manufacturer for the 11th consecutive year.
I think this is a farfetched conclusion. There are probably other reasons why notebooks sales shrunk which may have to do with the economy or global unrest. People worrying about losing their jobs. I really wish it were true that iPhone sales were eating into other company’s notebook sales, but it just doesn’t seem likely to me. I think it’s more of a coincidence or analysts falsely claiming that notebook sales would rise in order to pump up PC company share prices. I see a lot of that happening. Look at Intel’s share price simply flying in the clouds based on increased notebook sales. I certainly don’t see how iPhone sales would slow Chromebook sales. Those things are dirt cheap and being used in schools because they have keyboards. In my opinion, these bloggers see a result then spin any story to fit those results.