Sales of Mac computers and iPhones suffered an unsurprising slump during Q1 as supply chain issues and the shuttering of stores hit revenue, according to new data sets released by Canalys, IDC and Gartner.
The impact of the coronavirus is only just filtering through to Apple’s bottom line, and while sales are likely to rebound later in the year, Q1 represented a significant step back from the previous quarter when record returns were posted.
In the quarter to the end of December, Apple logged $79bn worth of sales, with iPhones accounting for around two-thirds of that figure.
Mac sales also increased to $7.2bn for a 9.1% share of the company’s sales.
Things have changed a lot since late 2019, and Apple, like other tech giants, is facing up to a difficult period as the global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on business.
Canalys and IDC reported that sales of Mac computers just surpassed the 3m mark during Q1, which represents a 21% decline from the same period a year earlier.
The data suggests that Apple has seen the biggest drop-off in sales among its competitors during the January to March period.
Gartner does not believe that the fall was quite as large as its report only shows a 6.2% decline of Mac computer sales year-over-year.
Personal computer sales did decrease across the board in Q1, though this was primarily due to supply constraints.
Data shows that there was actually an increase in demand for the devices as employees looked to source computers to work from home.
However, the disruption to manufacturing meant that tech companies were unable to meet the uptick in demand and Mac sales took a hit as a result.
iPhone sales are also believed to have fallen, but not significantly due to a similar strengthening of demand.
Apple sold fewer than 500,000 of its premium smartphones in China in February, but after an easing of lockdown measures, sales soared to 2.5m in March.
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