IDC's Q2-24 report on Global PC Shipments shows that Apple took a Whopping Leap in PC Shipments Year-over-Year
Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple came in Fourth in the Global Desktop and Notebook Market for Q2-24." The report was based on data from Canalys wherein they showed that Apple had 6.0% year-over-year growth.
This afternoon, IDC released their data on Worldwide PC shipments and lo and behold, they have Apple delivering a whopping quarter at 20% year-over-year growth and the highest growth amongst the other four OEMS as noted in the IDC chart presented below.
The Traditional PC market delivered its second quarter of growth following seven consecutive quarters of decline. According to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, worldwide shipments reached 64.9 million units in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24), representing year-over-year growth of 3.0%. While the overall market benefited from favorable comparisons to 2023, weak results in China continued to hold the market back. Excluding China, worldwide shipments grew more than 5% year over year.
"Make no mistake, the PC market just like other technology markets faces challenges in the near term due to maturity and headwinds," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Device Trackers. "However, two consecutive quarters of growth, combined with plenty of market hype around AI PCs and a less sexy but arguably more important commercial refresh cycle, seems to be what the PC market needed. The buzz is clearly around AI, but a lot is happening with non-AI PC purchasing to make this mature market show signs of positivity."
In recent months, most of the industry players have laid out their initial strategies for AI PCs focusing primarily on the component side and the potential of the commercial market. While IDC believes the commercial market has the biggest short-term upside for AI in the PC industry, the consumer story has yet to be told in full. All eyes are on Apple to drive that message later this year with anticipated product launches, but it shouldn't be overlooked that Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD are all likely to make noise around both consumer and commercial AI PCs.
When statistics have this wide a difference, you have to wonder which analytical company actually got it right. A 14% difference is quite considerable.