Apple to Recover From its Q3 2013 Mac Sales Flop

Earlier this week, research by NPD Group showed that domestic Mac sales had declined 12 percent in June. NPD researchers also found that U.S. Mac sales had declined five percent over the entire June quarter. Apple AAPL confirmed this latter point when it released its fiscal 2013 third quarter results yesterday afternoon. While the iPhone maker did not break down Mac sales by individual model or individual country, Apple did state that global Mac sales had fallen to 3.8 million units. That is five percent fewer units than the company sold during the year-ago period. It also proved to be in-line with the U.S. sales figures from NPD. Related: Apple Could Lower the Price of the Next MacBook Pro Mac sales also declined slightly during the second quarter. Last fall, consumers were expected to buy millions of computers from Apple. The company reported disappointing sales during the December quarter, however, with only 4.1 million Macs sold compared to 5.2 million in the year-ago period. All told, Mac sales have not experienced an increase since Apple reported its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter results last October. That could change when Apple reports its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter results. After months of declines, the company is finally expected to enjoy an increase in new Mac sales. According to DigiTimes, Mac shipments should increase to four million units during the September quarter. "Apple revised the MacBook Pro in 2012 and then increased 13-inch MacBook Pro orders in anticipation of good sales, the sources noted," DigiTimes' Aaron Lee wrote. "But actual sales of the 13-inch MacBook Pro fell far short of expectations, and therefore Apple cleared inventories and suspended orders in the first half of 2013, the sources said." This claim seems to match Apple's untimely price reductions, which lowered the MSRP of both the 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The latter received a $200 price cut over the last two years, while the Air has been reduced by $100 twice over the last two years. By increasing shipments (and possibly sales) to four million units, Macs could finally be on the right track. But Mac sales would still fall short of Q4 2012. At that time Apple sold 4.9 million Macs. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ