International PC sales fell to 66.1 million units in 2015’s second quarter, according to IDC. This figure is a sharp drop of -11.8% year-on-year, and about 1% less than predicted. However, Apple bucked this trend, as it saw its own PC sales grow by 16.1% worldwide and so outperformed its rivals.
The generally declining state of the worldwide PC market has been recorded by the International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The poorer sales have been attributed to several factors, including the recent end of Windows XP support, which encouraged relatively strong PC sales a year ago, and weaker or changing exchange rates resulting in higher PC prices in numerous markets.
So, why did Apple blossom as its major competitors, including Lenovo, HP and Dell, wilted? Appealing updates to Mac computers earlier this year have likely helped, though Business Wire has wisely also suggested that Apple is “benefitting from some of the uncertainty around the launch of Windows 10”.