New York – Computer shipments in the United States and worldwide
made a huge comeback in 2009 overall and the fourth quarter, according to
Gartner and IDC.
Fourth-quarter shipments jumped in excess of 24 percent
in the fourth quarter year over year, the two firms reported. Gartner said U.S.
shipments were up 26.5 percent on 19.8 million units shipped, while IDC had the
number at 20.6 million, up 24 percent. The different figures are due to the
slightly different accounting methods used by the two firms.
The large gains were, in part, due to the poor sales
that took place during the same period in 2008, tied to falling average selling
prices for netbooks and laptops and the economic recovery that started to take
place in the latter half of 2009.
For the year, IDC said U.S. shipments were up 6.5
percent, with 69.8 million units shipped. Gartner did not release figures for
2009.
In the United States, Gartner and IDC’s fourth-quarter
top-five PC shipper lists were identical, with Hewlett-Packard passing Dell for
the leadership position. Dell came in second, followed by Acer, Toshiba and
Apple.
All except Dell posted large double-digit gains during
the fourth quarter. Toshiba experienced the greatest growth, with shipments
increasing more than 70 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008. HP’s
45 percent increase was second best.
Gartner’s analysts said Dell’s comparatively lackluster
performance was due to being less aggressive in pricing than its competitors.
Although Dell’s shipments increased only about 5 percent, IDC called this a
success for the company as it was the first positive gain for Dell in four
quarters. In addition, IDC noted that Toshiba’s focus on portable computing paid
off, as the vast majority of all computer sales now fall into this
category.
Dell also lost a position on the worldwide stage as Acer
surpassed the Texas computer builder to take second place. HP maintained its
massive lead over the competition earning about 9 percent market
share.
Garter’s Preliminary United States PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q09 (Thousands
of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86
servers.
Source: Gartner (January 2010)
IDC’s Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2009 (Thousands of
Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86
servers.
Source: Gartner (January 2010)
