Mac sales slowest in two years, say researchers, but still well ahead of the rest of the PC industry

While research firms IDC and Gartner disagree on whether Mac sales are falling or rising, they do agree on two things: Q3 Mac sales were at their most sluggish for two years, but still well ahead of the rest of the PC industry.

Ahead of new retina 4K iMac and likley accessories launch next week, IDC estimated that Apple sold 5.3M Macs in Q3 2015, a year-on-year fall of 3.4%. Gartner instead estimated 5.6M sales, representing a 1.5% increase. Both firms did, however, agree on two pieces of good news for Apple …

First, both sets of figures show that Apple is outselling the PC market as a whole, which fell by either 7.7% (Gartner) or 10.8% (IDC). Second, both agree that Apple increased its market share: from 6.9% to either 7.5% (IDC) or 7.6% (Gartner).

Both firms said that Apple is losing out on overseas sales, reports the WSJ.

Mac sales may have slowed due to a strong U.S. dollar, which made the computers more expensive outside the U.S., said Jay Chou, an IDC analyst.

Apple was hurt by weak markets in Japan and Europe, said Mikako Kitagawa, a Gartner analyst.

We’ll have to wait until later this month to see the actual figures, when Apple reports Mac sales as part of its calendar Q3/fiscal Q4 earnings report on October 27.