Mac Sales Keep Booming, and the Fireworks Are in Asia

No surprises here: The Mac continues to kick ass. And it’s kicking a lot of it in Asia.

Needham analyst Charlie Wolf notes today that June marked the 21st consecutive quarter that Mac shipment growth exceeded that of the PC market. Mac shipments grew 14.6 percent for the month — more than five times the PC market’s growth rate of 2.7 percent.

Driving that growth tear: The home and business markets and Asia. Mac shipments rose 13 percent in a global home market that declined .3 percent overall. In the business market, they grew 31.5 percent, more than six times the five percent growth rate charted by the rest of the market. And in Asia, they simply blew the roof off the market with shipments that grew 67.6 percent thanks to soaring demand in China.

Wolf figures the region accounted for a jaw-dropping 55.2 percent of the year-over-year growth in worldwide Mac shipments. And this wasn’t the first quarter of double-digit growth there; it was the sixth. Says Wolf, “The growth of Apple’s sales in China represents a perfect storm between an iconic brand and a rapidly growing middle class that’s more brand conscious than consumers in virtually every other region of the globe.”

This is, of course, something of which Apple is well aware. The company’s leadership has consistently mentioned China as Apple’s next major geographic growth opportunity during recent earnings calls, noting the significant untapped demand for its products there.

“China was very key to our results,” Apple COO Tim Cook said during the company’s July earnings call. “[It] has been a substantial opportunity for Apple, and I firmly believe that we’re just scratching the surface right now. I think there is incredible opportunity for Apple there.”

And now a special word from Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing …