Suddenly, MacBooks are back in high demand

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The MacBook Pro has a Touch Bar, and a better display.
MacBook shipments were way up last quarter, and are predicted to rise this quarter too.
Photo: Apple

Shipments of MacBooks were up almost 20% during the second quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2018, according to a market-research firm.

And the analysts predict another 20% growth in the current quarter, buoyed by the release of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple shipped 3.21 million macOS laptops from April to June. That’s a YoY increase of 19.8%, according to TrendForce.

During this period, the company introduced speed-boosted MacBook Pro models with Intel’s latest processors. This could have contributed to the rise in shipments.

Apple was in fifth place in the global laptop market during Q2, behind HP, Lenovo, Dell, and Acer, according to TrendForce. That said, Acer was doing preemptive stocking to get its computers into the US before this country’s trade war with China gets worse. Apple is expected to be back in its usual fourth place next quarter.

Revenue from the sale of all Macs was up last quarter, though by just 6%. The analysts at Garner say total shipments of Apple’s desktops and laptops was down slightly because of difficulties getting sufficient Intel processors.

This company doesn’t reveal how many computers it sells, so analysts estimates are all that’s available.

Looking ahead to a strong Q3

TrendForce predicts that 3.85 million MacBooks will ship between July and the end of September. That’s up 14.8% over Apple’s shipments in the same period of last year, and an increase of 19.9% over its Q2 shipments.

A new 13-inch MacBook Pro debuted in July, and improved the MacBook Air too. These are likely to contribute to that total. And there may be another device on the docket soon.

The market analysts from TrendForce said “We see new products hitting shelves, such as Apple’s 16-inch MacBook.” Other analysts have already guessed this larger model will debut soon, and is expected to replace the current 15-inch MacBook Pro.

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