As the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to reverberate through the global consumer technology landscape, analysts across the world are now predicting a 40% decrease in Mac sales over the past year as overall PC sales begin to slump.
The data, which was gathered and released by Canalys, reflects both the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and the wider shift towards remote computing and work-from-home models. Despite an initial rush in March and April 2020, which saw the industry experience some of its best-ever sales figures, retail demand for PCs has since tapered off dramatically.
Experts attribute the continued slump in PC purchases to widespread budget cuts, as well as to a shift in consumer buying patterns towards lighter, cheaper models such as Chromebooks, tablets and iPads. These newer devices are seen by many as better suited to the remote working model, being more portable and easier to use than traditional desktop PCs.
On the other hand, Macs have traditionally been viewed as the ‘premium’ option, the higher cost often discouraging people from investing in Macs during the financial pinch caused by the pandemic. Furthermore, Apple’s recent shift to its own proprietary M1 processor had caused a general confusion in the market, as buyers grapple with deciding between the traditional hardware and the new Apple-developed system.
The result of this uncertainty has been a dramatic dip in Mac sales across the board, with experts now predicting a 40% fall on 2019 figures.
Overall, the continued slump in PC sales reflects the wider economic downturn caused by COVID-19, while reinforcing the recent trend towards portable, cheaper alternatives that better meet our new work-from-home lifestyles. It also serves as a warning to investors and producers of traditional PCs and Macs that the days of ‘big box’ PCs may be coming to a close.
