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IDC: Mac shipments down. Gartner: Mac shipments up.
It must be tough to be a market research firm these days. IDC released preliminary information of PC shipments for the first calendar quarter of 2013 today, showing the market to be dismal with an overall decline in PC shipments of almost 13 percent in the US year-over-year and Mac shipments apparently down 7.5 percent in the same period. On the other hand, Gartner's figures -- also released today -- show an 9.6 percent year-over-year decline in the US PC market, and shipments of Macs actually growing 7.4 percent in the same period. With Apple's fiscal second quarter earnings report coming up in less than two weeks, the conflicting numbers are sure to make financial analysts reach for the bottle of Jim Beam hidden in a desk drawer. As if the numbers from IDC and Gartner weren't perplexing enough, 9to5Mac points out that NPD Group's numbers show sales (not shipments) of Macs jumping a whopping 14 percent. Who's right? We'll all have to wait until the afternoon of April 23 to see the actual numbers from Apple. If history repeats itself once again, we're sure to see stellar numbers from Apple for most product lines, followed by a precipitous drop in AAPL's share price. You can join us for all the fun during our regular earnings call liveblog at 5 PM ET on April 23, 2013.
IDC: PC shipments in Q1 faced their steepest known drop to date
If Windows 8 is the ticket to a bounce-back in PC sales, it's going to be a long, slow recovery. At least, as long as you ask IDC. It estimates that worldwide computer shipments in the first quarter of 2013 fell 13.9 percent to 76.3 million, which is the steepest quarterly drop the research firm has recorded since it started tracking PCs back in 1994. While the exact factors at work aren't clear, IDC blames it on a mix of customers spooked by Windows 8's unfamiliar interface, the continued rise of mobile devices, and the decline of the netbook. This isn't helped by the higher typical prices of touchscreen PCs, or by restructuring efforts at computing giants like Dell and HP. Who's reigning in this apparently declining PC empire, then? Worldwide, it's a different picture than it was a few months ago: HP is back on top at 15.7 percent, followed by Lenovo, Dell, Acer and ASUS. The American climate is somewhat more familiar, with HP in front at 25.1 percent while being chased by Dell, Apple, Toshiba and Lenovo. With the exception of Lenovo, however, virtually all of the manufacturers involved saw at least some decline in their PC shipments. To IDC, that's a sign that vendors and Microsoft need to find an antidote to the crazes for smartphones and tablets -- and find it quickly.
IDC: connected device shipments up 29.1 percent in 2012, smartphones and tablets rule
Researchers at IDC have had their ears to the ground keeping tabs on shipments for specific types of devices, and now they've painted a bigger picture of the hardware battlefield in 2012. "Smart connected devices" -- a category which includes desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones -- saw a total of 367.7 million units shipped in Q4 2012, up 28.3 percent from the year before. In total, over 1.2 billion units were shipped last year, marking a 29.1 percent upswing from 2011. Naturally, tablets and smartphones drove the boost by carving out roughly 60 percent of the year's combined marketshare, while PCs and notebook shipments sank by 4.1 and 3.4 percent, respectively. While Samsung and Apple each claimed crowns in specific gadget divisions, Sammy came out on top with smart connected devices in 2012 as a whole (and in Q4) thanks to a 20.8 percent marketshare, beating Cupertino by 2.6 percent. Lenovo finished in third place with a 6.5 percent slice, while HP and Dell trailed behind with 4.8 and 3.2 percent, respectively. IDC notes that Cook. and Co. could have come in a more distant second, but the debut of the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini pulled it out of a slump from earlier in the year.
Daily Update for February 21, 2013
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Consumer spending on mobile games tops that for portable consoles
The market for dedicated portable game consoles from Nintendo and Sony appears to be shrinking due to competition from iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Data from IDC and App Annie shows that fourth-quarter 2012 consumer spending on game apps from the App Store and Google Play was greater than spending on those portable consoles. In the Portable Gaming Report (PDF), the two companies noted that well over 20 billion games were downloaded across the mobile platforms in 2012, and that over a third of app downloads were games. The report also pointed out a fascinating statistic -- in terms of total consumer spending on games, Nintendo and Apple were almost equal. That Apple could become a major player in gaming in less than five years since the App Store first opened its virtual doors is amazing, particularly when the Nintendo DS and its successors have been around since 2004. One other key comment from the IDC / App Annie report was that purchases of dedicated game consoles appear to be highly seasonal, with 60 percent of spending in the fourth quarter of 2012 being done in December. Game app purchases, on the other hand, don't exhibit the seasonal variability of the dedicated units. [via The Verge]
IDC: Android surged to 69 percent smartphone share in 2012, dipped in Q4
Few would doubt that 2012 was Android's year given how rapidly it grew, but it's good to have some context. IDC is more than willing to oblige. It estimates that Google's OS climbed from 49.2 percent of the smartphone space in 2011 to 68.8 percent in 2012. As we've seen in the past, though, most of that came from customers leaving embattled platforms, including a pre-BB10 BlackBerry and Symbian. Apple reportedly held its ground at 18.8 percent, while Microsoft appears to have turned a corner with Windows Phone by climbing back up to 2.5 percent. The fourth quarter results paint a slightly different picture. Android still had a comfortable 70.1 percent of share in IDC's reckoning, but it took a hit from 75 percent in the third quarter -- similar to what we've seen elsewhere, the iPhone 5 launch helped iOS claw back enough share to hit 21 percent. BlackBerry and Windows Phone weren't quite so rosy, although they also didn't have full quarters with new devices to offer. We'll have to wait for the first quarter of 2013 to finish before we learn of any true shakeups in the status quo.
Apple sees huge growth in India, but trails behind competitors
TechCrunch reports that Apple has seen a huge gain in sales in India -- up to 400 percent -- in July through September 2012, but still has a long way to go compared to its competitors in the region. According to the research firm IDC (based on figures collated from that time period), Apple isn't in the top five of handset market share. Samsung is at the top, with a 46 percent share, and HTC at No. 5, with a 6.6 percent market share. Additionally, web browsing stats reveal that Apple has a tiny percentage of current mobile web traffic. However, this is not so surprising given that in an earnings call last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he didn't see much opportunity for growth in India in the short-term. But that's not to say Apple isn't scouting the area and preparing for growth. India is a huge market, with less than 10 percent smartphone penetration. TechCrunch reports that Apple's sales growth is attributed to a growth in Apple's India team, from 50 to 150 in the last six months, as well as distribution partnerships with Redington and Ingram Micro. Apple is also making its iPhone easier to purchase with installment-based payment schemes through its retail partners, including the nation wide retail chain, TheMobileStore.
IDC: Apple leads in tablet shipments, but overall market share slips
According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, tablet shipments reached a record 52.5 million units worldwide in Q4 2012. Apple remains the leader in the tablet market with shipments of 22.9 million units and a 43.6 percent market share. This is a 48 percent year-over-year increase in tablet shipments. Though Apple is shipping more tablets per quarter, its overall market share is declining slightly from 46.4 percent in Q3 2012 down to the current 43.6 percent. This decline can be attributed to competition from vendors like Samsung, which saw its tablet shipments grow to 7.9 million units last quarter (a whopping 263 percent year-over-year increase). Though their yearly increases were less than 10 percent, Amazon and Barnes & Noble also gained market share in the quarter. Apple also faces competition from smaller tablets makers like Archos, Acer and others. Companies that sell less than 1 million tablets are grouped by IDC into the "Others" category and this conglomerate grabbed 22.1 percent of the market.
IDC: iPad loses a little marketshare, still dominates global tablet sales in Q4 2012
While Samsung continues to claim the top spot in smartphone sales, Apple is doing the same with tablets. According to IDC, the iPad (in all its shapes) is still the most popular tablet -- by a long way. Apple claimed a 43.6 percent market share for the last quarter, shipping 22.9 million tablets. The iOS tablets lost 6.8 percent of the market share during the quarter, although this loss is substantially less than what IDC monitored earlier this year. Since the same period last year, that's an increase of 48.1 percent Apple tablets shipped, while total tablet numbers increased 74.3 percent in total. Samsung sidles into second place with all those different screen sizes shipping 7.9 million units and claiming a 15.1 percent market share -- since Q4 2011 that's a huge 263 percent year-on-year increase. Amazon (11.5 percent marketshare) ASUS (5.8 percent) and Barnes and Noble (1.9 percent) round out the top five, while other manufacturers were still able to claim 22.1 percent of total tablet sales -- presumably including Microsoft's Surface, whose effect was described as "muted". The full table of sales and marketshare is right after the break. (Update: IDC has released some corrected figures. We've adjusted our write-up above.)
iPhone global market share grew to 25.1% in 2012
According to data published by IDC, Apple's global share of the smartphone market grew from 18.8 percent to 25.1 percent during 2012. That share is based on sales of 93.1 million iPhones in 2011 and 136.8 million sold in calendar year 2012. While that growth rate of 46.9 percent sounds good, it pales in comparison to Samsung's incredible growth in the smartphone market in 2012. Apple and Samsung were in a dead heat for global market share last year, with Samsung's 19 percent share barely edging out Apple's 18.8 percent. But Samsung's shipments jumped from 94.2 million units in 2011 to a whopping 215.8 million in 2012 -- an astonishing 129.1 percent increase in shipments. The IDC data also shows that several low-cost manufacturers -- Huawei and ZTE -- are making significant inroads in the smartphone market. Between the top manufacturers and these low-cost entrants, Nokia, RIM and HTC are finding their once-solid places in the smartphone market melting away.
IDC: Samsung extends lead over Apple in smartphone marketshare, while Huawei and ZTE increase influence
Right off the heels of too many financial reports and yet more smartphone research, IDC has weighed in with its own thoughts and analysis, noting that demand for smartphones is -- unsurprisingly -- not letting up. While the global market for mobile phones grew by 1.9 percent in the last quarter, "strong holiday smartphone sales" meant that units shipped were almost equal that of cheaper feature phones. 219.4 million smartphones shipped -- 45.5 percent of all phone shipments -- was slightly below IDC's optimistic predictions for Q4, but it's still been a notable quarter for new competitors like Huawei, which elbowed LG out from the top 5. IDC's senior analyst Kevin Restivo puts it down to Huawei's advantage in low-cost devices, not to mention its placement within China -- a country that can't get enough of phones. ZTE also placed within IDC's Top 5 smartphone vendor leaderboard in the last quarter, with a 4.3 percent marketshare, although Samsung (29 percent) and Apple (21.8 percent) continued to dominate the top spots. Samsung saw a 76 percent increase since Q4 2011, extending its lead over the iPhone maker, while Huawei, now third, saw an 89.5 percent year-on-year increase on its smartphone shipments. Estimates on Sony's shipments place it fourth, with a decent 55.6 percent change since the same quarter in 2011. Annual smartphone sales saw a more familiar pecking order, with Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC and RIM filling the lead positions. Year-on-year changes for Nokia, HTC and RIM were negative, likely affected on both sides by the aforementioned champions and new contenders -- the Finnish phone maker dropped shipments by 54.6 percent according to IDC's figures. Prefer your metrics and year-on-year changes tabled? Well, we've added both the quarterly and annual summaries right after the break.
IDC: Samsung and Apple rule connected device share, those who snooze in mobile lose
Most market share studies are broken down by individual categories that don't tell the whole story of their successes and failures. IDC has stepped forward with a more holistic look that covers PCs, phones and tablets all at once -- and paints a very different picture. Samsung and Apple lead the pack in the third quarter of this year with an estimated 21.8 and 15.1 percent share each, based mostly on their mobile dominance. Lenovo's equal balance between its rapidly growing PC and phone businesses put it at 7 percent. It's those who haven't done well outside of PCs that have struggled: IDC is quick to point out that HP's exit from mobile left it at 4.6 percent and sinking fast, while it's commonly known that Sony has yet to enjoy a truly blockbuster hit with its Android-based smartphones or tablets. The situation is changing quickly, but the data shows that companies can't lean solely on traditional computers to thrive in the broader technology landscape.
IDC: Apple slipped to sixth in China smartphone share in Q3, Samsung and locals sat on top
The Chinese smartphone market is a tough nut to crack given its sensitivity to prices and a slew of strong domestic brands. IDC estimates suggest Apple may have learned this the hard way during the third quarter of this year: it slipped from fourth place in local market share during the second quarter to sixth. Samsung kept out in front, but everyone else who knocked Apple down a couple of pegs was from the neighborhood, starting with second-place Lenovo followed by Coolpad, ZTE and Huawei. Price and wider availability no doubt played a part in shifting further towards a (mostly) Android-based field, although the period may have also exacerbated the pre-update lull in sales that Apple often faces -- while those in some countries were picking up an iPhone 5 in September, China won't have its turn until December 14th. Fourth quarter results won't completely reverse the state of affairs, but they could easily be worth watching.
IDC: tablet shipments up 6.7 percent in Q3 2012, Apple's market share drops to 50.4 percent
Samsung may dominate Apple in smartphone market share, but the opposite is true for tablets. Third quarter figures from IDC suggest the tablet market grew by 6.7 percent during those three months, and 49.5 percent since the same period last year. Apple was responsible for over half of the 27.8 million shipments worldwide, but lost a significant amount of market share, dropping to 50.4 percent from 65.5 percent in the second quarter. IDC attributes this to consumers holding off for the iPad mini, but expects some of these procrastinators will choose Android tablets due to the relatively high entry price of $329 for the mini. Samsung was second on the leaderboard, shipping over five million tablets and increasing its market share to 18.4 percent, mainly driven by Galaxy Tab and Note 10.1 sales. Amazon and ASUS also had a solid quarter thanks to the Kindle Fires and Nexus 7, respectively, shipping around 2.5 million tablets a piece. Lenovo's presence in China meant it closed out the top five, with modest growth from the same period last year. Apple may still be the biggest player in the tablet market thanks to the iPad brand, but with the significant decline in market share this quarter, it seems IDC's predictions might slowly be coming true.
IDC: Android claims 75 percent of smartphone shipments in Q3, 136 million handsets sold
Android devices already counted for a lion's share of phones shipped during Q2, and now fresh IDC figures show Google's OS claiming the top spot with a hefty 75 percent marketshare in the third quarter. In total, 136 million Android handsets were shipped during the time frame, a new record in a single quarter. Even with the help of new hardware, iOS lagged behind in second place with a 14.9 percent stake of handsets. Both Blackberry and Symbian clung to their respective 3rd and 4th place spots, making up 6.6 percent of total shipments. Windows-based phones (both WP7 and Windows Mobile) fell to 2 percent, keeping Microsoft in fifth place just above smartphones running Linux. However, with Windows Phone 8 devices making their debut, we wouldn't be surprised to see Redmond's numbers get a boost when IDC's next report rolls around.
IDC: Samsung and Apple still kings of the smartphone market, Nokia loses top five spot to RIM
IDC's third quarter figures are in, complete with a few unexpected shake-ups. The entire cellphone market grew 2.4% over the same time last year, but smartphones drove the majority of that, showing growth of 45.3% and beating the analysts' expectations. Of the 179.7 million smartphones shipped, Samsung and Apple devices accounted for almost half of them, with the companies retaining their number one and two positions in the market, respectively. IDC notes that iPhone shipments didn't increase, but this is somewhat expected given the latest iteration was released only a short time before the end of the quarter. What we find particularly interesting is that Nokia was ousted from the top five smartphone players and replaced by RIM. Whether Nokia's upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices will put it back in contention remains to be seen, as does the effect BB10 and RIM's new handsets will have on the market. ZTE finished fourth in the list thanks to increased sales in North America, with HTC rounding up the top five vendors with continued uptake of its power devices. With a bunch of new handsets coming to the table and the holiday season fast approaching, look out for even more surprises in the fourth quarter numbers, due early next year.
Gartner and IDC: PC shipments tumbled over 8 percent in Q3, only ASUS and Lenovo escaped unhurt
We don't often summarize market share in one word, but: ouch. Both Gartner and IDC have trotted out their preliminary estimates for PC market share in the third quarter, and the two agree that this summer was a dire one for the traditional computer. Outside of ASUS and Lenovo, whose price-focused strategies and key acquisitions kept them ahead of rivals, virtually every major vendor saw its PC shipments collapse versus a year ago, often by more than 10 percent. Total worldwide shipments declined by more than 8 percent in either estimate -- enough to make a flat second quarter seem rosy by comparison. Lenovo took the top spot in Gartner's study, although IDC is counting workstations and kept HP in its usual lead. As for the US, it's almost better that we don't look. Gartner and IDC believe that the American market sank by respective 13.8 or 12.4 percent amounts, and the steep global declines repeated themselves in the one country for everyone but Lenovo. Even a market share gain for Apple came only because its shipments dropped at a gentler rate than most of its peers. Whether it's the US or worldwide, don't assume that inventory clearances ahead of Windows 8 were the only factors at work, though. Both research teams point to continuing world economic troubles as influences, and IDC contends that buyers are still skipping PCs in favor of smartphones and mobile tablets. There's often a jump in computer sales between the summer and the fall, especially with a new OS on the way, but we wouldn't count on a return to the halcyon days.
IDC: iPhone wait cuts Apple's China phone share by nearly half, Lenovo seizes the opportunity
There's a lot of talk of a new iPhone coming soon, and the Chinese know it. IDC researchers estimate that Apple's share of smartphones in the country was sliced almost in half during the second quarter, to 10 percent, as expectations and rumors led the local population to wait for the big update. Better competition also played a part in denting iPhone shipments, although it's not Apple's chief rival Samsung who's responsible. Rather, it's China's own Lenovo that had the most impact. It broke into the double digits with a second-place 11 percent share thanks to recently started indirect sales of its Android-dominated lineup, while Samsung saw its own share dip slightly to 19 percent. Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei bracketed Apple at third and fifth. We wouldn't be surprised if the balance of power shifts in about a month, but the impacts to Apple and Samsung alike show just how tough it can be to stay on top in one of the fastest-growing markets on Earth -- especially one with so many local brands.
IDC: Android and iOS accounted for 85 percent of smartphones shipped in Q2 2012
IDC's Q2 2012 numbers are out and the figures are encouraging, but not spectacular for Apple. According to IDC, Apple shipped 26 million handsets and grabbed 16.9 percent of the global smartphone market. This is a 27.5 percent increase over the same quarter last year. Despite its double-digit growth, the iPhone didn't outpace the overall smartphone market which grew 44 percent year-over-year. IDC says demand for the iPhone has cooled because of rumors surrounding the launch of the new iPhone sometime this fall. iOS also still trails Android which grabbed 68.1 percent of the market share. Samsung was the dominant Android manufacturer and shipped 44 percent of the platform's total smartphones in the quarter. Combined, Android and iOS accounted for 85 percent of all smartphones shipped in the quarter and, as IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas says, "the mobile OS market is now unquestionably a two-horse race due to the dominance of Android and iOS." [Via Engadget]
IDC: Android and iOS continue to carve up the world, another record quarter for smartphones
According to IDC's latest figures, Android and iOS now account for 85 percent of the 152 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2012. Google's OS powered 68.1 percent of all smartphones sold -- with Samsung making the hardware behind for just under half of those. Apple's smartphones now claim a 16.9 percent marketshare and while plenty of phone shoppers are holding out for the iPhone's next iteration, iOS still saw double-digit growth in Q2. There's more bad news for both BlackBerry and Symbian platforms, which, combined, accounted for less than 10 percent of all smartphones shipped last quarter. Windows Phone 7, meanwhile, hasn't quite made it to that hallowed third place it reckons it deserves. The mobile OS continues to grow, however, albeit at a gentler rate than both iOS and Android. Microsoft's likely pinning its hopes on the adjustable widgets and meatier specifications of Windows Phone 8 to draw in some new customers this fall.
