Back-to-School Laptop Sales: Market Share Trends by Brand and Retailer

Key Takeaways

• Apple held a leading 57.5% brand share of the laptop and notebook category but ceded 3.2 ppt of share during Back-to-School relative to its January–June 2025 baseline, while HP (+2.3 ppt) and Dell (+1.0 ppt) each gained share over the same period.
• Best Buy's retailer share dipped during Prime Day and Apple's Education Promotion before recovering through August to end the season up approximately 5.5 ppt versus the week of June 30.
• Back-to-School generated 21.9% of full-year 2025 laptop GMV, with Samsung and Apple over-indexing at more than 22% of their annual GMV during the period.
• At Best Buy, 92.2% of in-store Back-to-School laptop buyers were incremental over a 24-month lookback, with Apple leading incremental spend share at 36.5% and HP contributing the largest number of incremental buyers.

Apple and Best Buy Led Back-to-School Retail Share

Apple recorded weekly share gains in mid-July 2025 amid key Back-to-School promotions but gave back approximately 3.8 ppt of share by the end of August compared to the week of June 30. Best Buy's share declined during Prime Day (week of July 7) and Apple's Education Promotion (week of July 14), then recovered through August, ending the month up approximately 5.5 ppt versus the week of June 30. Amazon saw a brief spike in share around Prime Day and held a consistent third-place position, ranging from roughly 12% to 28% of weekly retailer share across the season.

HP and Dell Gained Laptop Market Share During Back-to-School

Apple remained the clear category leader in laptops and notebooks, holding 57.5% brand share, though this reflected a 3.2 ppt decline during Back-to-School relative to the January–June 2025 baseline. HP recorded the largest share gain of any brand, rising to 14.9% share during Back-to-School (+2.3 ppt). Dell also gained share (+1.0 ppt) during the period, while Acer and other brands saw share decline. Retailers included in this analysis are Apple, Best Buy, Amazon (1P + 3P), Costco, Walmart, Staples, BJ's, Sam's Club, Target, Temu, Office Depot, TikTok Shop, Lowe's, Dollar General, Walgreens, Five Below, CVS, and Kohl's.

Back-to-School Drove Over One-Fifth of Annual Laptop Sales

Back-to-School generated 21.9% of full-year 2025 laptop GMV, underscoring the period's importance as a seasonal sales driver for the category. Samsung and Apple over-indexed relative to the category average, with each brand generating more than 22% of its annual GMV during the Back-to-School window. Acer, by contrast, under-indexed, generating just 15.2% of its 2025 GMV during the same period.

Apple and HP Powered Incremental Back-to-School Growth at Best Buy

At Best Buy, in-store Back-to-School laptop buyers were 92.2% incremental based on a 24-month lookback, meaning the large majority had not purchased a laptop or notebook at Best Buy between July 2023 and June 2025. Apple led incremental spend share at 36.5%, while HP contributed the largest number of incremental buyers. This view uses a single active receipt panel to avoid combining non-comparable shopper bases.

Top-Selling Laptop SKUs at Best Buy During the 2025 Back-to-School Season

Apple's MacBook lineup dominated Best Buy's best-selling laptop list during the 2025 Back-to-School season, taking four of the top five spots, while HP placed one budget-friendly model in the ranking. The top-selling SKUs were:

1. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Apple M4 chip, 16GB memory, 256GB SSD, Midnight) — ASP of $803.75
2. HP 15.6-inch touch-screen laptop (Intel Core i3 1315U, 8GB memory, 256GB SSD, Natural Silver) — ASP of $279.34
3. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Apple M4 chip, 16GB memory, 256GB SSD, Starlight) — ASP of $805.33
4. Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (Apple M4 chip, 16GB memory, 512GB SSD, Space Black) — ASP of $1,312.10
5. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (Apple M4 chip, 16GB memory, 256GB SSD, Sky Blue) — ASP of $802.72

What This Means for the Consumer Electronics Industry

For brands, retailers, and investors in consumer electronics, Back-to-School purchasing offers an early read on holiday season positioning and full year brand share trajectories. Understanding which brands gain or lose share during high intensity promotional windows, and which retailers capture new shoppers, gives a clearer picture of category dynamics than static market share snapshots. Granular data on pricing, SKU level demand, and incrementality also shows how promotional strategy translates into actual purchase behavior.

Back-to-School spending represents a meaningful share of annual laptop and notebook GMV, so tracking these trends in near real time, rather than waiting for quarterly earnings, lets stakeholders spot shifts as they happen. Data providers like YipitData, which combine receipt level, card, and web scraped signals, offer this granularity and timeliness, giving a more complete view of category performance than any single retailer's disclosures.

Methodology

This research is based on YipitData's consumer transaction data, including e-receipt data, in-store receipt data, credit/debit card data, and web-scraped retailer data. The analysis covers the United States laptop and notebook category across online and brick-and-mortar retail channels for July through August 2025, benchmarked against January through June 2025 baseline figures.

YipitData provides near real-time consumer transaction data and analytics across retail, consumer goods, and e-commerce. For more insights on electronics industry trends, brand performance, and category-level spending analysis, visit yipitdata.com.

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