"Apple PC shipments plummeted", which I did not expect, and of course I believe that "I am not alone".
Market research data released by IDC and Canalys shows that global PC shipments plummeted by 29% and 32.6% in the first quarter of 2023, of which Apple PC shipments plummeted by 40.5% and 45.5%, the largest decline among global PC manufacturers. You know, the last time Apple PC shipments were so dismal was more than 20 years ago.
In fact, the decline in global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2023 is not a strange thing: three years later, desktops, notebooks, and tablet products that once skyrocketed in shipments based on the work-from-home scenario have long ceased to be in demand, and this problem has already appeared as early as 2022.
If we compare the Gartner market research data in 2021 and 2022, we will find that the sharp decline in global PC shipments has begun in 2022. Among them, in 2022, only Apple will grow against the trend, and the rest of the brands have fallen sharply. I believe that when I see this, everyone is even more strange: what happened to Apple, which is still proud in front of everyone in 2022? Why did Apple encounter such a Waterloo?
Let's first take a look at IDC's summary of the possible reasons for the collapse in global PC shipments in 2023: weak demand, excess inventory, and a deteriorating global economic environment.
But to analyze why Apple is weak, we must first look at why Apple can achieve contrarian growth in 2022, which is simply summarized thanks to the strong blessing of M1/M2 series chips.
Apple's M1 chip was released in 2020, and once released, it directly challenged the authority, that is, Windows + X86. At the same time, taking advantage of the well-known global "environment", Apple's shipments rose sharply in 2020 and 2021, and even bucked the trend in 2022.
So back now, why did Apple fall?
Personally, I think the main reasons are three points, one is the decline in demand, Apple once used the M1/M2 series chips to greatly plunder the Windows market, and now as life gradually returns to normal, its demand has decreased significantly;
Second, Apple's PC is positioned at the high-end, and in the global economic downturn, it is normal for sales to decline;
Third, perhaps because the performance of their own chips' M1/M2 series chips is too strong, especially M1 Pro/Max, so that old users have no need to replace the machine at all. As the so-called "Cheng Ye Xiao He defeated Xiao He", I don't know if the advent of Apple M3 can change the current status quo, only the new M chip can beat the M chip!
Today, the PC market has fallen into a dilemma visible to the naked eye, and if the global economy picks up in 2024, a new round of replacement may usher in! Let's look forward to the next spring of the PC market together.