Mac sales fall by 40%

[Xiao_Xi]

This makes me suspicious of the quality of their data.

Things get weirder if you try to compare several quarters.

Apple Mac revenue by quarter 2006-2024 | Statista

In the third quarter of Apple's 2024 fiscal year, sales of Apple Mac computers generated around seven billion U.S.

www.statista.com

By the way, it seems that Apple's fiscal quarters end on the last Saturday of the quarter, not the last day of the quarter.

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2022.

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2022.

www.apple.com

 

[Siliconguy]

Its just crazy how expensive these computers, (both laptops and desktops). I don't mean just apple, though HP/Lenovo are not known for luxury pricing.

The general consumer is putting off purchases that are not needed, and dropping almost 3k for a laptop certainly can fall into that category.

Wages are not keeping up with inflation. People are cutting back, and unless you are a gamer or a video editor an older computer still will do the job. A 2012 Mac mini with Mint Xfce is surprisingly capable and supported until 2027. Whether the hardware will last that long I don't know.🤷‍♂️

 

[pshufd]

I did return mine. 5 times. I eventually just gave up because I didn’t buy a Mac to return it every week. I bought it to do my job. People are still reporting new models still have this issue. So there was no guarantee that if I kept doing it I could get a “good” one.

I bought mine at an Apple Store and I think that I would have returned it and then had them open a new one to test it out in the store and just keep doing that until I found a good one. It's clear that they have a problem but it's also clear that most don't have this problem. If enough people returned them for whine, then they would fix the problem.

One other approach would be to buy a used one where you could test it out in someone's home or office.

I absolutely love my Studio. I didn't think that I would like a Mac desktop more than my Intel iMac 27 but this comes close. The thing I like more about the 27 inch iMacs is that I don't need wires running around for speakers and microphones and I'd get a videocamera to boot.

Edited: new -> used

 

[Unregistered 4U]

but everything is also down minus services and iPads.

This is the important bit that will go over many heads. Apple’s already headed to where the puck will be. I was watching a two year old fly through the interface of an iPad, including hiding a video off screen so they can hear, but not see, a Disney movie while playing an educational game. And, going from photos to another game to youtube and any other icon they recognized. I don’t see that kid ever being comfortable with an indirect pointing device of any kind.

 

[Bloomalana]

Good for the customer.
Maybe Apple will pull back on their crazy pricing for memory upgrades, and maybe fanboys will quit defending them because "muh inflation".
Anyway this had to happen sooner or later.

Factors here are:
1. Economy
2. 2020/2021 PC purchasing boom
3. Super cycle with M1 Macs

Apple's egregious BTO prices factor a little bit into #1, but there is not much evidence their pricing is a causative agent here. A lot of people who needed or wanted a Mac got one in 2020/2021, and those are multi-year purchases. Amongst those who didn't, many are cautious right now because of the economy. Do Apple's BTO prices factor into that? A little. But not much. I don't see Apple making any pricing changes based on this trend.

 

[AlixSPQR]

It's partly my fault, I suppose.

 

[MysticCow]

Wages are not keeping up with inflation. People are cutting back, and unless you are a gamer or a video editor an older computer still will do the job. A 2012 Mac mini with Mint Xfce is surprisingly capable and supported until 2027. Whether the hardware will last that long I don't know.🤷‍♂️

The 2011 mini, as long as that Radeon card holds up, should fare better than the 2012 Intel Integrated model.

And yeah, people seem genuinely shocked that the money elves can't just give everyone $4000 USD and not have an inflation scenario.

Apple’s already headed to where the puck will be.

There is a shift going on. A mouse is going to become deprecated technology and it looks like sooner than later.

Shift happens.

It's partly my fault, I suppose.

I knew it was your fault.

But seriously, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB hard drive shouldn't be an extra $400 USD.

 

[leman]

But the results could be at -2% in the IDC report because Apple's actual forth quarter of 2022 was up on Macs by 30% but down 30% in their 1st quarter of 2023. So the estimate seems pretty close if IDC is splitting those quarters.

I still have difficulty wrapping my head around these figures. Let's have a look at it again and try to figure out what's going on.

Per IDC report, Mac Sales went down 2% in Q4 2022 and 40% in Q1 2023. They do not specify the actual date range behind these quarters, but since it's a table with multiple vendors and the results were always released the next calendar month, it makes sense to assume that these are calendar quarters. So, again, according to IDC we have 2% decrease in Mac sales from October-December 2022 and 40% from January-March 2023 (compared to the same period the previous year).

Now, according to Apple's financial report they have lost 40% in Mac revenue in October-December 2022 compared to October-December 2021. This makes sense, since there were no product releases in that quarter, while the 2021 quarter had new MacBook Pros. What I still don't understand how 40% in revenue loss translates to 2% fewer sales reported by IDC. Even if what you say is correct that they went up one quarter and then down next quarter, it still doesn't add up, unless IDC's quarter crosses the calendar year (which would be the weirdest definition of quarter ever).

We will see in May, when Apple releases the financial data for the first calendar quarter of 2023. In the meantime I have a suspicion that IDC personnel did a mistake aggregating the data and confused the fiscal quarters and calendar quarters.

 

[Choco Taco]

Global inflation doesn't exactly encourage purchases of $2-3k devices. People are feeling it right now. They're spending more on necessities and less on frivolities. Everything is down right now though, not just Apple sales.

 

[pshufd]

Global inflation doesn't exactly encourage purchases of $2-3k devices. People are feeling it right now. They're spending more on necessities and less on frivolities. Everything is down right now though, not just Apple sales.

People are definitely buying a lot of Big Macs which I consider consumer discretionary.

 

[Choco Taco]

People are definitely buying a lot of Big Macs which I consider consumer discretionary.



View attachment 2187011

And coincidentally ... fiber sales are way up too.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Factors here are:
1. Economy
2. 2020/2021 PC purchasing boom
3. Super cycle with M1 Macs

Apple's egregious BTO prices factor a little bit into #1, but there is not much evidence their pricing is a causative agent here. A lot of people who needed or wanted a Mac got one in 2020/2021, and those are multi-year purchases. Amongst those who didn't, many are cautious right now because of the economy. Do Apple's BTO prices factor into that? A little. But not much. I don't see Apple making any pricing changes based on this trend.

I think you are exactly right.

People spent a lot to upgrade their tech during the covid purchasing boom and due to the introduction of Apple silicon, and there is simply no need or want to keep spending. Any Mac purchased in 2020 is still very good today, and probably will continue to be very good for a long time. At the same time, I know that companies are also slowing down their upgrade cycles. My company (which can easily afford it) is slowing down employee computer upgrades from a 3 year cycle to a 5 year cycle. The reason is the same - the new laptops (non-Mac) are not materially better than laptops from 3 years ago.

 

[Xiao_Xi]

What I still don't understand how 40% in revenue loss translates to 2% fewer sales reported by IDC.

Could price increases explain it?

By the way, Mac sales fell by almost 30% (not 40%) in the last quarter of 2022.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/FY23_Q1_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.pdf

 

[h.gilbert]

Mark my words, we'll soon see older macs suddenly become slower.

 

[mi7chy]

Lack of software is to blame so less incentive for people to upgrade.

A thriving software ecosystem drives hardware sales so DIY market is still selling well. This is just one reseller that represents the DIY market.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1645055506275262464

 

[Tevosn]

I haven’t bought a Mac in 5++ years. Reason i don’t really like Osx, but I do realize things could have changed since then.
The other thing is prices lol.

I’m happy using iPad/iPhone and windows for everything else. I like windows but performance could be better.

 

[leman]

Could price increases explain it?

Wouldn't it need a price decrease though? If sales remained the same and revenue fell, one would expect a lower average unit cost. I mean, it is possible that people were buying a lot of M2 Airs instead of the more expensive MacBook Pros, but frankly, I'd expect everyone who wanted to buy one in late summer/early fall.

By the way, Mac sales fell by almost 30% (not 40%) in the last quarter of 2022.

Depends how you count The 2021 quarter revenue was 40% higher.

A thriving software ecosystem drives hardware sales so DIY market is still selling well. This is just one reseller that represents the DIY market.

The DYI CPU sales don't even make a dent in the overall processor market. DYI market is comically small.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I have an M1 MacBook Pro I bought in November of 2020. I don't see myself buying a new MacBook until latest 2026 and thats if it gets slow and no longer receiving macOS updates, which is unlikely.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I think its simply market correction from the major uptick in sales over the pandemic.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I think its simply market correction from the major uptick in sales over the pandemic.

Yeah, I’m just going to look a the yearly numbers and expect the unit sales to be roughly 20+ million again.

 

[richard13]

This really boils down to CY (calendar year) vs FY (fiscal year). For many companies, these do not line up. For instance, my current company, as well as my previous (Microsoft), The FY runs from July to the following end of June. So, this coming July 1st is Q1 of FY 24. I would presume that if an outlet is reporting on sales figures I would expect it to by FY, not CY. But it's possible this isn't the case.

 

[rafark]

It's hard to justify getting an all in one anymore when most people would rather just use their own displays nowadays.

That’s not true like at all. A lot of people including me, prefer the tidiness of an iMac. Only one cable and you’re ready. Plus, the price is pretty good too when compared to a studio display + Mac mini/studio combo.

The current iMac is fugly though. Apple needs to introduce better/more attractive models.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Its just crazy how expensive these computers, (both laptops and desktops). I don't mean just apple, though HP/Lenovo are not known for luxury pricing.

The general consumer is putting off purchases that are not needed, and dropping almost 3k for a laptop certainly can fall into that category.

My employer used to have a 3 year rotation for computers but since prices have crept up since the end of 2019, it’s now a case of replace once broken. My wife used to replace her MBP every 4 years but now replacing when she has to. Not surprised sales have fallen and hopefully they realise the reasons why.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

PC Pain Persists in Q1 2023 Due to Excess Inventory and Poor Demand, According to IDC Tracker

IDC examines consumer markets by devices, applications, networks, and services to provide complete solutions for succeeding in these expanding markets.

www.idc.com

View attachment 2186762

What is most surprising here is that Apple's share growth is worse than other PC makers. It seemed like Apple was going to continue to gain market share in PCs with Apple Silicon effortlessly. But this didn't happen in Q1.

I'm going to speculate why:

• People are going back to buying cheaper laptops due to the economy, inflation, and exchange rates. Apple suffers in this environment because they're generally less flexible when it comes to dropping prices.
• M2 was late by ~8 months (assuming they want to release a new gen every year).
• M2 Pro/Max, consequentially, was also late by 4 months.
• M2's performance increases did not knock it out of the park. No Ray Tracing support. No drastic increase in ST. Still using a node in 5nm family.
• Ideally, we should be on M3 right now.
• M1, Pro, Max were so good that people will wait for M3 or M4 to upgrade again. I'm in this camp.
• Still no MacBook SE to capture the value Walmart/Costco Windows laptop buyers
• Still no 15" Macbook Air, which will very likely become the #1 selling Mac when it's released
• RAM and SSD are expensive upgrades

The most frustrating thing about following Apple Silicon over the last 2 years is just how passive Apple's strategy is. Hopefully, Apple is learning a lesson here and will be more aggressive going forward. No more delays. No more holding back. Less stingy on RAM and SSD.

I would also add to your post a further reason:

Namely, that rather than abide by a 2-4 years cycle, current economic conditions have compelled some Mac owners to hold on to their computers for far longer, a 6-7-8 year, cycle.

I used to change (update) my computer every three years, the three years being determined by the fact that this was when my Applecare was due to expire.

Not any longer.

Its just crazy how expensive these computers, (both laptops and desktops). I don't mean just apple, though HP/Lenovo are not known for luxury pricing.

The general consumer is putting off purchases that are not needed, and dropping almost 3k for a laptop certainly can fall into that category.

Agreed.

 

[Ethosik]

I bought mine at an Apple Store and I think that I would have returned it and then had them open a new one to test it out in the store and just keep doing that until I found a good one. It's clear that they have a problem but it's also clear that most don't have this problem. If enough people returned them for whine, then they would fix the problem.

One other approach would be to buy a used one where you could test it out in someone's home or office.

I absolutely love my Studio. I didn't think that I would like a Mac desktop more than my Intel iMac 27 but this comes close. The thing I like more about the 27 inch iMacs is that I don't need wires running around for speakers and microphones and I'd get a videocamera to boot.

Edited: new -> used

Are you sure you can hear the high pitch sound? Not all can. It’s very quiet. I would actually take a much louder fan system over this.