Apple Mac Studio Studio Display Lifestyle 01Source: Apple

What you need to know

  • Overall PC shipments declined by seven percent in the first quarter of 2022.
  • Mac shipments grew by four percent, reaching a ten percent market share.

Apple's M1 lineup continues to outperform the majority of the PC market.

According to a new report from data analytics firm Strategy Analytics, notebook shipments sank seven percent in the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm points to people returning to the office and education budgets moving away from IT spending for explanations for the drop.

Eric Smith, Director of Connected Computing at Strategy Analytics, said that overall commercial laptop sales remained strong because of the demand for Apple's M1 lineup of computers.

"The total notebook market was only down 7% compared to last year, demand for commercial business stayed strong for Windows 11 PCs and MacBooks powered by M1 chipset, as most enterprise and SMB clients are still choosing hybrid work options and spending extra for quality products. Dell and Apple were good examples of the growth segments of the market: premium Windows notebooks and MacBooks with the M1 chipset."

Macbook Air M1Source: Daniel Bader / Android Central

According to the report, most PC makers saw declining shipments year over year. However, both Dell and Apple experienced increased shipments and achieved higher market share.

  • Lenovo shipped (sell-in) 14.4 million units in Q4 2021 (calendar year), representing -12% growth decline while keeping the number one rank at 23%
  • HP took the biggest hit during the first quarter as notebook PC shipments were down -20% year-over-year in Q1 2022 to 12.5 million units; market share also dropped below 20.0% first time since Q1 2016
  • Dell was the only top vendor to have registered over 5% growth year-over-year, as 10.5 million units shipped during the first quarter, gaining nearly two percentage points of market share over the last year's quarter to reach 16.5%
  • Apple MacOS carried the momentum from last two quarters as shipments reached 6.1 million MacBooks during the first quarter, a 4% growth from Q1 2021
  • Acer maintained the 5th spot globally in Q1 2022 with 4.7 million notebook PCs shipped, a -5% decline year-over-year

Apple isn't done with the M1 lineup, either. The company still has to announce a redesigned MacBook Air and Mac Pro that are both expected to be launched by the end of this year.

14-inch MacBook Pro in Space Gray

MacBook Pro (2021)

Bottom line: Professionals should open their wallets and purchase a 2021 MacBook Pro. All others might want to pause and consider last year's 13-inch model instead.

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