Apple topples Lenovo from top spot in broader measure of global PC sales

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – There’s a new No. 1 in the world’s global PC market – Apple – and long-time leader Lenovo falls to No. 2 in a broader measure of sales that includes tablets, according to a new report from research firm Canalys.

Despite a slight drop in tablet shipments, Apple surged past Lenovo when taking into account those devices as well as traditional PCs such as laptops, Chromebooks and desktops. Other research firms such as IDC and Gartner do not include tablets and still rank Lenovo as the top shipper based on first-quarter data.

Lenovo, which operates dual headquarters in the Triangle and Beijing, emerged as the world’s top PC dealer a decade ago and has battled with HP as well as Dell for top honors. But that’s in traditional PC devices. Apple is a distant fourth behind the other firms in PC-only sales, according to IDC.

However, Apple is showing strength with its new M-1 chip.

“Apple continued its momentum to start this year, led by the popularity of the M1-based Mac devices,” Gartner noted in its PC report last month. “In the first quarter Apple introduced Mac Studio, a M1-based premium desktop model, driving sales among PC users who require high processing power.”

A huge drop – more than 60% – in Chromebook sales really hurt Lenovo’s performance, the report notes.

“In the total PC market (including desktops, notebooks and tablets), Apple took first place from Lenovo as it shipped 22.3 million units in Q1 2022, up 1% annually,” Canalys reports.

“Second-placed Lenovo saw a year-on-year decline of 12%, shipping 21.1 million devices worldwide. HP’s shipment of 15.9 million units placed it third as it also underwent a significant decline of 18%. Both HP and Lenovo faced a difficult comparison from a volume perspective due to their large Chromebook output in Q1 2021.”

Overall, the PC market fell 3% in the first quarter to just over 118 million units, Calays notes.

Apple’s tablet sales did decline 2% – to a market-leading 14.9 million iPads – but Lenovo’s plunged 20% to just over 3 million.

The table shipment data:

Canalys analyst Himani Mukka noted that demand for tables has declined from peak sales during the pandemic with the rush to remote working and education driving demand. And more trouble looms,  Mukka added.

” Looking ahead, the market will face greater pressure on supply from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and COVID-related lockdowns in China. Lingering tablet demand from Q4 2021 was expected to extend into Q1 2022, but the supply situation is now likely to push backlogs into the second quarter,” Mukka warns.

The Crhomebook market also declined – a whopping 60% – to just under 5 million units.

The Chromebook data:

“The global Chromebook market has undergone an expected slowdown,” said Brian Lynch, Canalys Research Analyst. “The saturation of the Japanese and US education markets and a slowdown in consumer spending following the COVID-19 demand spike have brought inevitable declines in shipments. Nevertheless, Chromebooks still had an impressive Q1 when viewed in the wider context of historical performance, and growth is set to return as developed markets undergo refresh cycles in coming years.”

The PC data: