Apple is believed to have seen a significant 21% increase in Mac shipments for the second quarter of 2024, the largest growth among global PC manufacturers during this period, as part of an industry-wide recovery.
According to a report by IDC, an industry research firm, worldwide shipments of desktops and laptops increased by 3% year-over-year for the quarter ending in June 2024. Apple and Acer led the growth among major manufacturers, with Acer showing a 14% increase in shipments. This marked the second consecutive quarter of growth for the PC industry, following a period of decline after the pandemic-driven surge in purchases during 2020 and 2021.
Ryan Reith, group vice president at IDC, noted that the combination of two consecutive quarters of growth, market excitement around AI-focused PCs, and a commercial refresh cycle, provided a much-needed boost to the PC market. AI-focused PCs are anticipated to drive a new wave of upgrades, though IDC reports that only about 3% of PCs shipped this year are said to be optimized for AI tasks. Apple’s Mac lineup is likely to see further traction with the integration of Apple Intelligence, which positions the company to capitalize on the growing demand for AI-optimized PCs.
Apple’s shipments jumped 20.8% from the second quarter of 2023, the largest rise among global PC makers. Acer followed with a 13.7% increase. Dell experienced a 2.4% decline in shipments, making it the only major company to see a decrease during this period. A new report from Gartner shows similar figures.
Despite weak demand in China, which held back overall results, excluding China, global shipments grew by more than 5%, according to IDC. Lenovo maintained the highest market share at nearly 23%, while HP saw a 1.8% increase from the previous year, holding 21% of the market.
Canalys, another market research firm, reported a slightly higher global PC market growth of 3.4% year-over-year, with total shipments reaching 62.8 million units in the second quarter of 2024. Apple secured the fourth position with 5.5 million units shipped, translating to a 9% market share, and marking a 6% increase from the same period last year. Lenovo led the market with 14.7 million units shipped, followed by HP with 13.7 million units, and Dell with 10.1 million units.
