What you need to know
- MacBook Air and MacBook Pro shipments almost doubled quarter over quarter in Q1 2021.
- Shipments grew from 2.9 million to 5.7 million.
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro shipments almost doubled last quarter.
Strategy Analytics has published a new report that reveals MacBook Air and MacBook Pro shipments grew by 94% in Q1 2021 when compared to Q1 2020. Shipments of Apple's notebooks grew from 2.9 million in Q1 2020 to 5.7 million in Q1 2021. The report points to continued remote work and learning demand that is driving huge growth across many brands in the notebook PC space.
Eric Smith, Director of Connected Computing, said that vendors have largely managed to maintain shipments when compared to demand despite the ongoing chip and component shortage that is still looming large over the technology market.
"Vendors managed to deliver notebooks despite the ongoing components shortage and big vendors managed to fulfil large orders before their original delivery date. The emerging hybrid work pattern as well as the continuing need for learn-from-home devices added to consumer upgrade sales, making Q1 2021 the strongest first quarter after many years. The favorable comparison to the dire situation last year also helped with the strong growth figures."
Industry analyst Chirag Upadhyay also pointed out that, despite other players like Apple attempting to break into the market, Chromebook stills maintains its lead in classrooms.
"Chromebooks continued to dominate the education sector as primary education sector demand is still high in developed markets. The SMB market is also responding well to the cost competitiveness and manageability of the Chrome ecosystem, giving the OS a growing share of shipments in this segment and giving vendors a crucial chance to slowly raise prices and add features for the SMB/commercial world."
The growth in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro is not surprising. Apple released new versions of both models that feature the company's new M1 processor back in the fall of 2020. The company is also anticipated to release a redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro later this year.
