The Mac grew by 115% in the first quarter of 2021

The Mac continues to have a moment.

What you need to know

• Apple has experienced impressive growth with the Mac in the first quarter of 2021.
• The Mac business grew by 115% in the quarter.

The Mac saw some incredible growth in the first quarter of 2021.

According to new data from IDC, the Mac experienced 115% growth in Q1 2021 when compared to Q1 2020. This caused the Mac to grow its market share from 5.8% in Q1 2020 to 8.0% in Q1 2021. This puts Apple in fourth place behind the big three: Lenovo, HP, and Dell.

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC's Mobile Device Trackers, said that, while growth has continued into 2021 for the overall PC market, the global chip shortage could threaten its ability to maintain that performance.

"Unfulfilled demand from the past year has carried forward into the first quarter and additional demand brought on by the pandemic has also continued to drive volume ... However, the market continues to struggle with setbacks including component shortages and logistics issues, each of which has contributed to an increase in average selling prices."

Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said that "all three segments – business, education, and consumer – are experiencing demand that we didn't expect to happen."

"There is no question when entering 2021 the backlog for PCs was extensive across business, consumer, and education ... The ongoing shortages in the semiconductor space only further prolong the ability for vendors to refill inventory and fulfill orders to customers. We believe a fundamental shift has occurred around the PC, which will result in a more positive outlook for years to follow. All three segments – business, education, and consumer – are experiencing demand that we didn't expect to happen regardless of many countries beginning their 'opening up' process. Component shortages will likely be a topic of conversation for the majority of 2021, but the more important question should be what PC demand will look like in 2-3 years."

Apple is expected to unveil a new MacBook Pro and iMac later this year.