Mac sales fell in the third quarter of 2024, while most PC vendors rose

In the third quarter of 2024, Apple saw a significant year-over-year decline in Mac sales, by far the worst performance for the five largest computer manufacturers.

After the second quarter of 2024, which barely managed to increase Mac sales compared to the same period in 2023, Apple saw a significant decline in the third quarter. Apple actually saw an increase from quarter to quarter: 5.1 million Macs were shipped in the third quarter, compared to 2.32 million in the second quarter.

However, according to Canalys, Apple shipped 6.1 million Macs in the third quarter of 2023. As a result, Apple recorded a year-on-year decline of 17.5% in Q3 2024.

This also leads to a loss of market share. In the third quarter of 2023, Apple had a 9.5% share of the PC market, but in the latest figures it has fallen to 7.7%.

This puts Apple in last place among the five largest providers worldwide. Lenovo led the way with annual growth of 2.8% and shipments of around 16.5 million units.

HP came in second with 0.4% growth and 13.6 million units shipped, while Dell, at fourth, was the only other manufacturer to report a decline. Shipments of 9.8 million PCs represented a year-over-year decline of 4%.

While Asus sold less than the other PC makers and only a fraction more than Apple, it increased its growth by 15.8%. That meant 5.5 million computers sold and a market share that rose from 7.3% to 8.3% year-on-year.

Apple saw a 17.5% decline despite not releasing new Macs in either the third quarter of 2023 or 2024. As in the fourth quarter of 2023, new models are now expected to be released at the end of October 2024.