How Popular Are Macs?

Nowadays, Apple is known for its mobile computing solutions, be it Macbooks, iPhones or Apple Watches. The roots of the company founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, however, lie in desktop PCs. After releasing the Apple I and II in 1976 and 1977, respectively, the first Macintosh featuring a graphical user interface and a mouse entered the market in 1984.

The Macintosh product series, officially shortened to Mac in the late 1990s, was the primary pillar of Apple's business success until the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007. In the company's fiscal year 2023, it constituted the second-smallest business segment in its revenue mix. Still, in some markets, Macs are the dominant desktop PC solutions.

As data from our Statista Consumer Insights shows, almost one quarter of respondents from Switzerland have a desktop-type Mac in their household, followed by the United Kingdom and the U.S. with 23 percent each. In other major economies like China, France and Germany, the share is considerably lower at 15 to 14 percent. Of course, a high overall share of households with Mac desktop PCs doesn't necessarily translate into it being the most prevalent brand in the corresponding country. In the United States, for example, Apple ranks third behind Dell and HP. The most-used desktop PC brand in China is Lenovo with a share of 24 percent, followed by Dell, Asus and HP, while in Germany, Macs come in third after individually configured PCs and Acer.

According to IDC data, around 252 million personal computing devices, including desktops and notebooks, were shipped across the consumer, education and commercial segments in 2023, down 14 percent compared to the previous year. Statista estimates show that the market volume for desktop PCs stood at $38 billion globally and will grow to $40 billion in 2028.