Apple Times its Chip Gambit Just Right -- Heard on the Street
January 12 2021 - 6:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Dan Gallagher
As it turns out, Apple picked a perfect time to mess with the
Mac.
The consumer-electronics giant launched a new line of the iconic
computers with its first in-house processor in mid-November. The
company felt strongly enough about the machines to remove the older
models using Intel's chips from its online store. It was no small
gamble: Intel's chips have powered Mac computers since 2006, while
Apple's new in-house processors use the entirely different
Arm-based chip architecture that had so far proved unpopular in PC
devices.
Buyers appeared to snap them up in what is an overall sweet spot
for PC sales. According to sales data from market-research firms
Gartner and IDC released Monday, Mac unit sales hit a record in the
fourth quarter, which is also Apple's fiscal first quarter. IDC
estimates sales surged 49% year over year to about 7.3 million
units, while Gartner estimates they jumped 31% to about 6.9 million
units. Apple stopped disclosing unit sales of its devices at the
end of its 2018 fiscal year; the most Mac sales it ever reported
before that was 5.7 million units in the quarter ending in
September 2015.
The pandemic made Apple's timing especially fortuitous. Workers
and students confined to their homes have been buying up PCs in
droves across the board. Both IDC and Gartner reported another
strong sales jump in the fourth quarter, with IDC estimating a 26%
year-over-year increase to 91.6 million units. The three largest PC
suppliers--Lenovo, HP and Dell--each saw double-digit gains in the
period. Chromebooks have continued to play a strong role thanks to
a boom in remote schooling; Gartner estimates Chromebook sales
surged 200% year over year to about 11.7 million units in the
quarter.
The boom from the pandemic is no doubt temporary for most of the
mature PC market. Apple's advantage here is that it still has Macs
in its lineup awaiting the upgrade to its in-house processor. Those
will include its desktop and pro-level machines, which are expected
to be moved to Apple chips over the next year or two. That gives
the Mac a good chance to outlive the current PC fever.
Write to Dan Gallagher at dan.gallagher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2021 06:44 ET (11:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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