Apple has seen a significant drop in computer shipments in the first quarter of 2023, based on the latest industry report. Specifically, the Cupertino tech giant slashed more than 40 percent of its MacBook shipments in the early months of this year, which represents a further dip in MacBook sales compared to the same period in 2022.
Apple's Decline in Shipments the Biggest Among PC Manufacturers for Q1 2023
As reported by Gizmodo, worldwide MacBook shipments in the first quarter of 2023 fell by 40.5%, according to the industry report published by IDC. It also appears that Apple is not the only PC manufacturer that had to scale down its shipments amid a decreasing consumer demand. ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo also saw a double-digit decrease in computer shipments for the same period.
Unfortunately for Apple, its shipment drop was the most significant among the PC makers. Dell, HP, ASUS and Lenovo all cut down their shipments by about 25% versus Apple's 40%. Furthermore, the IDC report shows that the number of Apple MacBook shipments fell from 6.9 million to 4.1 million in 2023. Consequently, Apple's computer market share dipped from 8.6% to 7.2% for the first quarter of 2023.
The shipment in question includes computer units that were made for both industry and individual sales. However, the IDC report only considered the MacBook shipments, while the tablet and smartphone units have been disregarded. Gizmodo also noted that the significant drop in shipments could be linked to Apple stopping the production of M2 series processors for MacBooks. Reports suggested that the tech giant only began to manufacture proprietary silicon at half of the usual rate in March.
Related Article: Apple Reports Decrease in iPad Sales, Increase in Mac Sales
Apple, Other PC Makers to See Improvements by the End of 2023
Despite the shipment cuts, the IDC report noted that Apple and other computer manufacturers could use weaker demands as an opportunity to set out new production plans and apply changes in the supply chain. The companies will also get the chance to persuade their suppliers to move their operations to other locations outside of China, as per CNBC.
Prior to the release of the IDC report, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri already expected that the company would see a double-digit decline in computer sales for the first quarter of 2023. Maestri made this pronouncement in February, following the decline in MacBook revenue by 28.66% in Q4 2022.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also noted earlier that the poor performance of the MacBook, iPhone and Apple Watch in the market could be attributed to the "challenging macroeconomic environment.
According to the IDC report, the shipment decline "represented a coda to the era of COVID-driven demand and at least a temporary return to pre-COVID patterns." At this point, PC manufacturers should expect low numbers in the near term.
"Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter," IDC researcher Jitesh Ubrani stated in the industry report. Although, computer manufacturers are expected to recover by the end of year.
