Framingham, Mass. — The research firms Gartner and IDC reported that Dell was the leading vendor in the U.S. PC market for the first quarter of 2007, with a significant lead in terms of shipments against runners-up Hewlett-Packard and Gateway.
The U.S. PC market saw “low single-digit, year-on-year” growth and “typical seasonal decline” from the fourth quarter to the first quarter, stated IDC.
Similarly, Stamford, Conn.–based research firm Gartner reported that PC shipments in the United States grew 2.9 percent in the first quarter compared with first quarter in 2006.
Despite its No. 1 position, Dell did lose market share. IDC attributed the loss to a “slow U.S. market and internal restructuring.”
“A focus on the slower growing commercial market and a strategy of not chasing share at the expense of profitability while facing aggressive competition from HP and other competitors has reduced growth [at Dell] dramatically.” The company’s “limited retail” presence was also cited by IDC as a factor in its market share decline.
Worldwide PC shipments also grew in the first quarter. Gartner’s preliminary results show that PC shipments totaled 62.7 million units worldwide, which it says is an 8.9 percent increase compared with the same period last year. IDC reported a 10.9 percent growth in worldwide PC shipments for the same period.
Both firms indicated that Microsoft’s consumer launch of Vista during the first quarter may have played some role in boosting shipments in certain cases, but neither offered any definitive data to prove any significant connection other than Gartner’s claim that “on a monthly basis, mature regions experienced a bubble in demand following [Vista’s] release.”
IDC credited the worldwide growth primarily to the strength of portable and consumer demand rather than strong commercial growth.
On a global scale, both firms reported that HP had significantly higher shipments in the first quarter than No. 2 Dell.
While Vista was not given much credit for boosting overall worldwide sales, Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest’s client computing markets group, said “HP was helped by the Vista operating system consumer launch in the mature regions, and it is benefiting from a strong position in the channel.”
Gartner said its numbers are preliminary that a final report will be available soon. IDC’S results come from its worldwide quarterly PC tracker, which it says tracks PC market data in 55 countries by a variety of factors.
U.S. PC Market Data – Q1 2007
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Shipment Estimated for 1Q07 (Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2007)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X68 servers.
Top Three Vendors, United States PC Shipments, First Quarter 2007 (Preliminary) (Unit Shipments are in thousands)
Source: IDC, April 18, 2007
Notes:
- IDC estimates for Gateway and Toshiba are prior to financial earnings reports
- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
- PCs include desktops, notebooks, ultra portables, and x86 servers
- PCs do not include handlehelds. Sata for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
Worldwide PC Market Data – Q1 2007
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q07 (Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2007)
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and x68 servers
Top Five Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, First Quarter 2007 (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
Source:IDC. April 18. 2007
Notes:
- IDC estimates for Gateway and Toshiba are prior to financial earnings reports.
- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
- PCs include desktops, notebooks, ultra portables, and x86 servers
- PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are reported for calendar year periods.
