US Mac shipments down 7.5% … or maybe up 7.4% … or possibly up 14%

Market tracker IDC says Apple’s Q1 Mac shipments in the US fell 7.5 percent year-on-year, while rival company Gartner says they increased 7.4 percent in the same period. Meantime, the NPD Group – which measures sales rather than shipments – says those are up 14 percent …

Despite the conflicting figures, reported by CNET, IDC and Gartner do agree on one thing: overall, the PC market is continuing to decline as we enter the post-PC era predicted by Steve Jobs back in January 2010. Global PC shipments across all platforms fell by either 11 percent (Gartner) or 14 percent (IDC).