Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q11 (Units)
New York – The slumping
economy and pressure from tablet PC sales contributed to lower computer
shipments during the second quarter, according to reports by IDC and Gartner.
Gartner reported
worldwide shipments inched up 2.3 percent for the second quarter, while IDC put
the figure at 2.6 percent.
However, shipments in the
U.S. markeT did not fare as well falling 4.2 percent, said IDC, with Gartner
pointing to a 5.6 percent fall off.
Neither company includes
tablet PCs in its PC shipment figures, these are tracked separately.
Hewlett-Packard remained the worldwide shipment leader on both
reports, followed by Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and Toshiba, stated Gartner. Dell
moved back into second place based on strong Asia/Pacific sales, displacing
Acer which fell to fourth. Gartner blamed the decline on its low-price,
high-volume business model which the research firm no longer considers
effective.
IDC’s list mirrored Gartner’s, but did not include a sixth
company.
Gartner’s Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q11 (Units)
Part of the shipment slowdown was due to the very strong shipment
numbers posted during the first half of 2010.
“These preliminary results continue to reflect pressure from
competing consumer and business products as well as cautious spending,”
said Jay Chou, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC
Tracker. “Nevertheless, product refreshes and promotions in the second half
of the year as well as easier year-ago data should boost growth in the second
half of the year.”
The U.S. market faced a slew of problems during the quarter. IDC
research analyst Rajani Singh noted the fall in the netbook category, tied to
the 12 percent growth posted a year ago and consumer interest in tablets
combined to push down shipments.
Gartner also fingered U.S. consumer spending and tablets as soft
spots.
“Given the hype around media tablets such as the iPad,
retailers were very conservative in placing orders for PCs. Instead, they
wanted to secure space for media tablets. Some PC vendors had to lower their
inventory through promotions, while others slimmed their product lines at
retailers,” said Gartner’s Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst.
HP retained top spot shipping 4.5 million units, a 1.2 percent
dip, for 26.9 percent of the market. Dell placed second on 3.8 million units
shipped, down 9.8 percent, for 22.6 percent of the market.
Gartner had Apple as the top performer for the second quarter
with shipments increasing 8.5 percent to 1.8 million, 10.7 percent share.
Toshiba also did well increasing its shipments 3.3 percent to 1.6 million for
9.6 percent of the market. Acer’s U.S. figures reflected its worldwide
performance with shipments falling a tremendous 22.6 percent to 3.5 million for
a 9.3 share.
IDC’s top five U.S. leaders matched Gartner’s list with the same
companies posting increases or decreases in units shipped.
The firms did expect a stronger second half. Mainly because the
comparative numbers from the latter half of 2010 will be easier to match.
IDC’s Top 5 Vendors, United States PC Shipments, Second Quarter 2011 (Preliminary)
