Apple-PC Divide Worse Than Originally Reported

People didn't buy nearly as many Windows computers in the fourth quarter of 2011 as they did the year before. We already knew that, but now there's a footnote that presents an even worse picture for the PC market. It was originally presented that Apple computer sales grew by 20.7% from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011, and that PCs on the whole declined by 5.9%. When you look more closely, though, that latter number should be even worse.

Earlier this month, research firm Gartner released stark numbers that demonstrated massive growth for Apple in the 4th quarter of 2011 while PC numbers were in an unequivocal decline. Specifically, Apple computer sales jumped by 20.7% while HP, Dell, Toshiba, and Acer all saw declines. When this chart originally made its way around the Net, everyone pointed to that 20.7% figure and compared it to the summary at the bottom, which showed a -5.9% growth for the PC market in general.

The caveat, though, is that Apple computers are included in that final number. When you remove Apple from the equation, it actually becomes -8.5%. Ouch. If there is a silver lining, though, this all refers to sales in the US. On a global scale, Lenovo, Dell, and Asus all saw significant growth, so Windows is still popular in some areas. And when you look at pure market share values, Apple only accounts for 11.6% in the US. If these numbers are anything to go by, though, that number will continue to soar.

[via The Small Wave]