HP NOW TOP PC VENDOR IN THE WORLD

[Anonymous]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345372,00.asp
HP Now the Top PC Vendor In U.S., World
Hewlett-Packard,
the traditional leader in worldwide PC sales, has unseated Dell within
the United States, two market researchers said Wednesday. Both also
said that U.S. PC sales were stronger than expected.Both IDC and
Gartner, in separate reports, said that Dell had lost significant
market share from a year ago, while HP’s low-priced consumer notebooks
propelled it to the top spot within the United States for the first
time since 2001.In a positive sign for the industry, Gartner said that
15.3 million PCs were sold within the U.S. during the first quarter, a
slight 0.3 percent decline from a year ago. IDC pegged the number at
15.0 million, which it said was a 3.1 percent dip from the same period.
But PC shipments dipped by 10.2 percent in the EMEA region to 22.7
million units, the first time that region had seen a double-digit
decline.The auspicious U.S. results would seem to bear out statements
made by Intel chief executive Paul Otellini, who reported Monday that
the PC industry had reached a bottom and had returned to predictable
trends. Gartner analyst George Shiffler cautioned, however, that the
growth could have derived from the channel restocking itself, and said
it was too early to tell if the global market had reached a low point.

The
worry, however, is that the unexpectedly strong unit growth won’t be
backed up by dollar revenues. Both Gartner and IDC found that the unit
growth was built on the strength of low-cost mobile PCs designed for
consumers, which typically sell for hundreds of dollars, rather than
over a thousand.”Low-priced mobile PCs led market growth in the U.S.
Mini notebooks did well in the challenging economic environment where
consumers’ number one priority was to save money,” said Mikako
Kitagawa, a principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “Mini
notebooks continued to put pressure on low priced mobile PCs. This
pressure was mainly felt in the consumer market, but it expanded into
select professional markets as well, including the education segment.
U.S. mobile PC ASPs likely will decline as much as 20 percent
year-over-year in first quarter 2009. Overall, end user spending on PCs
is likely to have contracted in the upper teens in first quarter 2009
compared to a year ago.”

Both firms said that Dell suffered from
a weak professional market and tough retail competition. Within the
worldwide market, HP easily held onto its top spot, with 13.3 million
shipments and 19.8 percent of the market, according to Gartner. IDC
placed HP even higher, at 20.5 percent. Gartner placed Dell and Acer in
a virtual dead heat for the second and third rankings, with Dell’s 8.79
million units sold just a few thousand over the 8.76 million Gartner
claimed Acer sold. In market share, the difference worked out to 13.1
percent and 13.0 percent, respectively. IDC said, however, that Dell
more handily beat Acer, selling 8.65 million units (13.6 percent market
share) to Acer’s 7.33 million units (11.6 percent market share).

Both
Gartner and IDC said that Lenovo and Toshiba finished fourth and fifth,
respectively, in worldwide shipments.Within the United States, though,
HP shone. The two firms differed on how well HP performed; IDC said
that HP recorded 12.2 percent unit growth, year-over-year, while
Gartner claimed that HP grew 11.1 percent.Within the United States, HP
sold 4.23 million units according to Gartner (27.7 percent market
share) versus 3.996 million units for Dell (26.2 percent market share),
almost identical to IDC’s results. In both tallies, Dell slipped about
16.2 percent in unit sales from year to year.

Acer sold 2.07
million PCs, recording 13.6 percent market share, according to Gartner.
Apple notched 1.14 million PCs, or 7.4 percent. Toshiba came in fifth
with just over 1 million PCs or 6.6 percent market share.”Tight credit
and economic concerns have certainly taken a toll on PC shipments in
the last couple quarters, but the move to portables, fueled by mini
notebooks and falling prices, has mitigated the impact,” said Loren
Loverde, program director for IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, in
a statement. “Following a drawdown in inventory throughout the supply
chain, we expect more stable production over the next couple quarters,
with growth returning around the end of the year.”

[Author]

April 17, 2009 at 11:57 AM