The new Apple AAPL +0.83% Macbook Air laptop is seen on display at Apple headquarters. Associated PressFrom a company that coined the phrase “post-PC era,” Apple’s strong Mac sales are showing that its personal computer isn’t ready to be declared dead.
At the same time, the iPad – the product that was supposed to precipitate its decline – is grappling with slumping sales.
Apple said it sold 4.41 million Mac computers in the quarter ended June 28, an increase of 17.6% from the same period a year earlier. It also marked the third straight quarter that Mac sales rose on a year-on-year basis, bouncing back after Mac sales fell 10% in the past fiscal year to September.
Sales of iPads are going in the other direction, with the number of units sold falling 9.2% after a 16% drop three months earlier.
Further highlighting the trend, the gap in revenue between the two products is fast closing. Apple sold $5.44 billion worth of Macs in the quarter, compared with $5.9 billion in iPads. The last time Mac revenue topped iPad’s was in 2011 when the tablet was still in its early days.
The Mac’s recent gains are especially impressive in an overall PC market estimated to be flat or slightly lower in the second quarter. Research firm Gartner estimated that the market grew 0.1% higher, while IDC forecast that the market fell 1.7%
Apple said Mac sales were helped by price cuts and a refresh of its Macbook Air laptops in April. Apple cut the price for its lowest-end Macbook Air by $100 and replaced the computer’s processors with faster chips. The company said demand was especially strong among college students.
“We had an unbelievable quarter on the Mac,” said Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook.
He also said that Apple is starting to benefit from its policy to stop charging for the Mac operating system, providing consumers with the comfort that they can always update to the latest software on their computer.
The Mac and its personal computer peers were expected to fall prey to tablet computers like the iPad, but the transition has not taken place just yet. None other than Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and driving force behind the original Macintosh, said in 2010 that the world was embarking on the post-PC era.
He compared the PC’s changing status to how trucks took a diminished role when the U.S. shifted to an industrial nation from an agrarian one.
In general, Jobs was correct. The PC market has slumped in recent years, while smartphone and tablet sales have increased dramatically. Apple has managed to keep its Mac revenue steady, despite the declining overall market, by grabbing share from rivals. Apple said the Mac has outpaced the broader PC industry in 30 of the last 32 quarters.
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