When Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its Q4 earnings results at the start of November, much of the focus was on iPhone sales and record Services revenue. But Mac revenue was also strong — the highest September quarter ever. And a new report says that refreshed MacBook Pros, back-to-school and educational purchases combined for MacBook sales that pushed Apple into fourth place globally among laptop makers for Q3 2017.
Those MacBook numbers may not have had a huge impact on AAPL stock, but it has been a while since there was good news on the Mac sales front.
Apple Now No. 4 in Global Laptop Sales
Apple doesn’t officially spike out MacBook sales versus other Mac sales in its quarterly results. However, TrendForce tracks laptop sales and the market research firm published its numbers for Q3 2017. According to the TrendForce report, Apple MacBook sales were 4.43 million units, up 11.3% from the previous quarter.
Apple’s numbers outperformed the industry in general, which saw global laptop shipments rise 6.8% compared to the second quarter, and was second only to HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ), which notched a 17.6% quarterly gain.
The increase in MacBook sales was enough to move Apple into fourth place among global laptop makers, with a 10.4% overall market share. ASUS dropped to fifth place, with 8.9%, while HP was on top at 25.8%.
Naturally, the TrendForce report leads to the age-old argument about how different market research firms track numbers. IDC and Gartner previously released Q3 reports and while they both tracked overall Mac sales (instead of spiking out MacBook sales), they came up with conflicting results. About the only fact that all three firms can agree on about that third quarter is that HP remains firmly on top of global PC sales.
However, Apple’s Q4 numbers tell the full story of Mac sales — no speculation or projection here — and it was good news.
Apple’s Q4 Earnings Confirm Strong Mac Sales
AAPL’s fourth quarter — July 1 to Sept. 30 — corresponds to the global third quarter used by market research firms, so we are comparing apples to apples when talking numbers.
When the company released the record-breaking Q4 earnings report that boosted AAPL stock over 3%, part of the good news story was Mac sales. They weren’t spiked out in the press release (the iPhone, iPad and Services were the stars there), but Mac sales were up 10% year-over-year and revenue increased 25%. With the company’s third largest division seeing revenue growth of 25%, that’s obviously good news for AAPL stock.
In Apple’s Q4 earnings call, the company went into more detail on Mac sales. AAPL noted that the past year represented the highest annual Mac revenue in its history, the highest Q4 ever for Mac sales and a record quarter for Mac sales in China. The education market for Mac PCs grew by double digits, which is an important detail, given the assault on education over the past several years by Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) inexpensive Google Chromebooks. The company also says back-to-school sales were strong.
And while MacBook sales weren’t spiked out, Apple did note that refreshes in its MacBook lineup in June drove those record sales numbers.
Even Apple can’t escape the reality of a declining PC market, and the days when Mac revenue drives AAPL stock are long past. However, Apple is one of the world’s biggest computer vendors and MacBook sales are helping that Mac division to remain one of the pillars of AAPL’s financial success. Both the latest TrendForce report and AAPL’s Q4 earnings show that Apple’s efforts to improve its MacBooks are a worthwhile investment.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
