Apple’s Mac Shipments Plummeted 40.5% Last Quarter, More Than Any Other Major PC Maker

Overall global shipments of PCs were down 29% in the first of 2023, but not all manufacturers were hit as hard. Apple’s Mac shipments were almost cut in half, down 40.5% from 6.9 million computers in the first quarter of 2022 to just 4.1 million in 2023 so far.

HP fared the best of the major traditional PC companies, with sales dropping (only) 24.2% to 12 million from 15.8 million.

“Weak demand, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic climate were all contributing factors for the precipitous drop in shipments of traditional PCs,” says market intelligence firm IDC, which compiled the data.

Top PC manufacturers all dropped, according to the IDC:

1. Apple: -40.5%
2. ASUS: -30.3%
3. Lenovo: -30.3%
4. Dell: -31%
5. Others: -26%
6. HP: -24.2%

Lenovo still leads all traditional PC companies in shipments:

1. Lenovo: 12.7 million
2. HP: 12 million
3. Dell: 9.5 million
4. Apple: 4.1 million
5. ASUS: 3.9 million
6. Others: 14.7 million

The massive drop in sales correlates with multiple factors, including a post-Covid reversal of work-from-home policies, a general malaise in the economy, and a significant increase in layoffs from both big and small tech companies that has now hit 223,662 people according to TrueUp’s tech layoff tracker: almost as many as 2022’s full-year total of 243,318 in just a quarter of the time.

The expected result of the massive slow-down in sales: large numbers of already-made PCs in inventory, which should drive discounting.

“Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it’s still well above the healthy four to six week range,” IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani said in a statement. “Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter.”

The IDC speculates that lowered demand will enhance manufacturers’ ability to decouple with China and move production elsewhere. Apple, for instance, has moved some iPhone production to India and some MacBook production to Vietnam. This will help protect companies from disruption as political tensions rise between China and the U.S., though a full decoupling from China is hard to imagine.

When will the industry return to growth?

The IDC speculates that 2024 might be the ticket, as an “aging installed base” comes up for replacement.