The year 2021 has been particularly fruitful for Apple, which confirms its position as almost leader in the last quarter of the year. Almost, because only Dell manages to overtake the mark in terms of growth. With 6.6 million MacBooks sold, the Apple brand has indeed seen its sales increase by 11% compared to the previous year.
In May 2021, analysts were already predicting an exceptional year for the PC market. Time will have proven them right. Despite the shortage of components that still prevails, manufacturers have for the most part made explode their sales figureswith an overall increase of 15% compared to 2020. Of all the companies involved in the sector, Apple is among those that stand out the most.
Indeed, in the last quarter of 2021, the firm experienced the second strongest growth in the PC market compared to the same period the previous year. With 6.6 million MacBooks sold, its results are up 11%. Among Windows manufacturers, only Dell manages to do better with growth of 14%. A performance that Apple owes above all to the launch of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, presented last October.
2021 MacBook M1s blow up Apple’s sales numbers
These chips didn’t come on their own, of course, as they now power new MacBook Pros which, in addition to pushing the limits of performance, benefit from a new design and a revamped ProMotion display. It was enough for users to flock to these new models. The Chirag Upadhyay analysis, however, notes that Apple took advantage ofoverall momentum in the PC market.
Related: MacBook Pro 2021 — M1 Max chip is 2x faster than M1 according to first benchmark
“Continued demand for hybrid work environments has supported market growth [PC]which was also boosted by the attractive price offers of Window 11 and DaaS”he explains. “Emerging markets are driven by continued demand from small and medium-sized businesses, as consumers continue to turn to mobility”he adds, noting also that the shortage of components has delayed some orders, finally honored at the end of the year.
For their part, Windows 11 PCs are also doing very well. “While we saw a slowdown in Chromebook demand in the second half of 2021, Windows demand took off in the fourth quarter of 2021”underlines Eric Smith, director of Connected Computing. “Windows 11 for business upgrades gave Windows laptops strong momentum in the quarter across all regions. Microsoft also attracted major PC vendors with the recent launch of Window 11 SE for education”.
Source: Strategy Analytics
