Global PC shipments plummet in third quarter, only Apple reporting growth

PC shipments fell across the world in the third quarter as overall sales fell 18%, according to figures compiled by Canalys. The only company to report positive year-over-year growth was Apple, with a modest 1.7% increase, according to Canalys.

All the other major PC makers saw declines in business, most in double-digit territory.

IDC had similar results with numbers down more than 15% globally with comparable losses to competitors, but there was a big difference in Apple's gain with IDC reporting that Apple had saw a dramatic 40% increase in shipments.

It's hard to explain the differences in Apple's numbers between the two companies, as IDC and Canalys appear to have similar methodologies for tracking this information. Below are the results for both companies for the third quarter of 2022:

Image credits: Canalys

Image credits: IDC

Anyway, the overall figures seem to be due to an unstable global macroeconomic and geopolitical situation and weaker demand for education and IT. Although supply chain issues appear to have eased somewhat, slow sales have led to stagnant inventory for many manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Apple appears to be riding the wave of M1 and M2 sales as it continues to refresh the MacBook and MacBook Air with new chips custom-designed for their machines. IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani says China's production easing and markdowns on older models could explain Apple's positive quarter and the numbers they released.

"It's hard to talk about [Canalys'] numbers. From our point of view, Apple's second quarter n...