When Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) unveiled its long-awaited new MacBook Pro in October, the reception was underwhelming. Despite what had all appearances of being a misstep on AAPL’s part, sales data shows the new laptop is smashing the competition. In its first five days of online availability, it outsold the four leading PC laptops — combined — since last October!
Slice Intelligence tracks sales through online retailers and has released a report following the first five days AAPL’s new MacBook Pro was available for sale.
The data shows astonishing numbers:
- The new MacBook Pro did seven times the revenue of the 2015 new MacBook launch;
- In its first five days, it outsold the combined totals for the Microsoft Coproation‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Surface Book, Asustek Computer, Inc.‘s (OTCMKTS:AKCPF) Chromebook Flip, Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 and Lenovo Group Limited (ADR)‘s (OTCMKTS:LNVGY) Yoga 900 for the past year; and
- In its first five days, the the new MacBook Pro has already reached 78% of total MacBook sales revenue since that 12-inch ultra-thin notebook was first released in March 2015.
In other words, despite all the griping about the Touch Bar being a gimmick, the switch to all USB-C ports and the price hike, Apple fans are snapping up the new MacBook Pro.
The Slice Intelligence report also presents some interesting data covering the bleak 500+ days during which the previous generation MacBook Pro was left without an update or refresh. According to the company’s figures, 40% of those who bought a MacBook in 2014 switched to a non-AAPL laptop for their next purchase. That trend aligns with Apple’s troubled Mac sales numbers, which went from defying the overall PC industry by posting modest growth, to double-digit decreases this year.
According to Slice, Dell was the biggest beneficiary of this platform migration. It’s probably not a coincidence that Dell was winning accolades for its new XPS 13 laptop (reviewed here) in 2015, even as AAPL fans were faced with choosing between the single-port new MacBook and the aging MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines.
It stands to reason that a chunk of those switchers saw what Apple has done with the new MacBook Pro, liked it well enough to end their Windows adventure and pulled out their credit card.
Does AAPL Have a Hit?
There are a few qualifiers to this report.
The first is that Slice Intelligence tracks online purchases only. So it doesn’t cover what’s happening in traditional brick-and-mortar retail locations. Apple’s new laptops aren’t even available in stores yet –while the competition is — so that could be skewing the e-commerce numbers to favor AAPL.
The second is that that the data is only for the first five days the new MacBook Pro was available for purchase. It’s possible that MacBook sales have cooled since then.
Finally, the numbers are for revenue not units sold. A new MacBook Pro can cost twice what the 12-inch MacBook does, so seven times the revenue could (depending on the model mix for both laptops) translate into three or four times the actual number of units sold.
However, despite the qualifiers, it does seem like Apple has a genuine — and somewhat unexpected — hit on its hands. The degree to which it is outselling the PC competition and that fact that in five days it has come close to matching the 12-inch MacBook’s lifetime sales revenue, bode extremely well for AAPL. It’s looking like the new MacBook Pro has the chops to win back some customers, convince hold-outs to upgrade and may even have the numbers needed to move overall Mac sales back toward positive growth.
Next, Apple needs to shore up its desktop PC line. Microsoft’s stunning new Surface Studio is stealing the spotlight from AAPL’s year-old iMac and three year-old Mac Pro.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
