Apple MacBook sales !

 MacBook sales slump 13 per cent in

 Q3 as Apple prepares to refresh line-up

     While HP, Dell and Asus all see PC sales grow

APPLE SUFFERED  the biggest decline of any PC manufacturer in the third quarter after sales of MacBooks fell 13 per cent year on year.

IDC's quarterly PC report shows that Apple sold just over five million MacBooks in Q3 2016, down from 5.8 million this time this year. This saw the firm’s PC market share shrink from 8.1 per cent to 7.3 per cent. 

The fall is probably because Apple has been slow to upgrade the MacBook range, although new models will arrive later this month if speculation is to be believed.

The firm is reportedly gearing up to launch new MacBook Pros with funky OLED touch bars and a Touch ID-equipped home button, alongside a refreshed MacBook Air line-up with USB-C and upgraded AMD graphics. 

IDC's figures don't just bring bad news for Apple. Current market leader Lenovo saw a 3.3 per cent decline in PC shipments during the third quarter to 14.5 million, but this still represented 21.3 per cent of the PC market. 

HP, Dell and Asus reported growth in PC shipments during the third quarter of 3.3 per cent, 6.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. 

Still, perhaps unsurprisingly, the PC market still saw a decline during the three-month period. Some 68 million machines were shipped globally, according to IDC, a 3.9 per cent dip compared with 70.7 million a year earlier. 

IDC expects the market to bounce back, though, echoing remarks from Gartner last week that Kaby Lake and virtual reality will push the PC market to growth in 2017. 

"Industry efforts to update products to leverage new processors and operating systems, to deliver a better computing experience encompassing more mobile, secure and faster systems, and to accelerate PC replacements, have been critical," said Loren Loverde, vice president of worldwide PC trackers and forecasting at IDC.

"These improvements are accumulating, and set the stage for a stronger market going forward."