Apple’s M4 MacBooks can’t come soon enough as Mac sales plummet
Apple’s Mac sales appear to have fallen dramatically, meaning the pressure is on to ensure the upcoming M4-powered MacBooks are a hit.
Market information experts Canalys has revealed a worrying 17.5% year-over-year decline in Apple Mac shipments last quarter.
This is especially striking when you consider that laptop and desktop sales have remained relatively flat across the industry and that the overall PC market has grown for four quarters in a row.
Global PC shipments reached 66.4 million units in the third quarter of 2024. That’s up 1.3% year-on-year, Canalys reports, with laptops driving the growth, rising 2.8%, while sales of desktops drops by 4.6%.
Canalys also predicts further market growth because Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 and Microsoft needs new machines to run Windows 11. Businesses (and users) may have to replace their older machines – or pay Microsoft for extended support contracts.
While this has been going on, Mac shipments have fallen from 6.2 million units in Q3 2023 to 5.1 million units in Q3 2024. Apple’s share of the PC market pie has fallen from 9.5% last year to 7.7%.
Why the decline?
There are several reasons why Apple may be experiencing this revenue decline. Macs are expensive and many people are still facing a cost of living crisis, which is tightening budgets. Businesses and consumers may opt for cheaper PCs due to economic uncertainty.
Then there is the post-pandemic slowdown to consider. The pandemic caused a boom in laptop and desktop sales as people shifted from on-site work to remote work and online learning. Device makers like Apple benefited from this spike, but now the pandemic-induced sales have faded. Customers can also wait for Apple’s upcoming releases, such as the new Mac mini or the next generation of Macs with M4 technology.
Rumors indicate that Apple’s next-generation MacBook Pro lineup will see significant performance improvements, even on the most affordable model. For example, the lower-end MacBook Pro is said to have a 10-core CPU, a notable improvement over the current 8-core setup. This means better performance, especially on tasks that require more processing power, such as software development, 2D rendering, and video editing.
Since Apple introduced the M4 chip in the iPad Pro earlier this year, many people have assumed that M4-powered Macs will inevitably appear, so it makes sense that people are waiting to buy a new Mac. If this has contributed to a decline in Apple’s sales, it could be a sign that the company’s breakneck pace in releasing new devices could be doing more harm than good.
Just a few years ago, Apple managed to irritate many of its customers by releasing M3 Pro and M3 Max-powered MacBook Pros just nine months after the release of the M2 Pro and M2 Max models. It seems that when people spend a good amount of money on a device, they aren’t too happy if it becomes obsolete within a year. It’s definitely something Apple should keep in mind, especially if it means people wait to buy your products because they expect newer ones to hit the market soon.
