Less than 24 hours ago, market analyst Canalys claimed that Apple's PC shipments had fallen by 17.5% with Asus leapfrogging Apple with year-over-year growth of +15.8%. Today, Gartner released their report on PC shipments for Q3 2024 and the two reports dynamically clashed, specifically with the stats for Apple and Asus. The stats for Lenovo, HP and Dell between the reports were reasonable. Yet when it came to the statistics for Apple and Asus, the clash between the two reports could have been more dramatic.

Sometimes, one analytical report may decide to add "Tablets" to PC stats or add Windows Surface Tablets as PCs but not iPads. Either addition can skew a PC shipment report unfairly against Apple where iPads are never included.

Yet this time around, there isn't such an excuse as tablets weren't in the mix. So it's crystal clear that one report has missed the mark significantly. Was it an honest error? Was it a purposeful slant to promote one company over the other?

The only way we'll be able to tell is to wait for new analytical reports on this market sector from the likes of IDC and Counterpoint to ascertain a clearer picture of global PC shipments in Q3 2024. At present, the conflicting statistics leave market watchers and investors confused. 

Below is the Q3 2024 Worldwide PC Market Chart from Gartner.  The stats for Apple resoundingly places Apple solidly in fourth spot. With the Canalys report, Apple crashed and Asus leapt by 15.8% which is a mile from the -3.0% statistic found on  the Gartner chart.

It should be noted that Gartner's report added a second Chart for U.S.-Only PC shipments for Q3-24 wherein Apple was shown to be in fourth place with Year-over-Year  growth at +5.8%. Review the full Gartner report for full details.

UPDATE OCT. 11: 6:35 A.M. PST

What a mess! Reports from IDC and Counterpoint have been published and their statistics are all over the map further confusing Q3-24 PC results. It shows that the analytical community is in disarray. How could numbers and standings for Apple and Asus be so off-the-wall. IDC was the worst showing Apple at -24.2% for Q3-24 while Counterpoint had Apple at -11%.