Worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter of 2004 increased by 9.7 percent over the same period last year, slightly below previous forecast expectations, according to Gartner Inc., saying that global shipments were impacted by slower sales in the U.S. market. PC shipments in the U.S. grew by 5 percent in the third quarter, analysts, however, expected shipments to increase by more than 8 percent.
"U.S. home notebook shipments were strong during the quarter, but desktop demand was much weaker, which brought down back to school shipments overall,? says Charles Smulders, vice-president of Gartner"s Computing Platforms Worldwide group. On a vendor basis, Dell Inc. extended its unit share lead both worldwide and in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2004, with a 20.9 percent growth worldwide and 14.5 percent growth in the U.S. It also performed particularly well in Europe, with shipments increasing by 36.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to the research group, Hewlett-Packard Co."s growth was in line with the industry average, allowing it to maintain its market share compared to a year ago. ?Regionally HP is coming under pressure in the U.S. retail market, as rivals compete more aggressively for shelf space,? Smulders adds. In the U.S., PC shipments totalled 16.2 million units in the third quarter of 2004, a 5 percent increase from the third quarter of 2003. Gartner analysts say notebook sales were strong, but desktop demand was much weaker.
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region also performed slightly below expectations. PC shipments totalled 14.3 million units, up by 12.6 percent compared to a year ago. Analysts had expected shipments to grow by 14 percent. Within EMEA, growth in Western and Eastern Europe slowed down, while the Middle East and Africa region grew strongly.
"The market is on a downward trend compared to the peak nearly a year ago as replacement cycles come to an end, and with consumer demand beginning to waver," says Ranjit Atwal, analyst of Gartner"s Computer Platforms group in London. "Back to school sales of PCs fell below expectations, and many retailers are expecting to continue promotions through at least the first part of October to clear product inventories."
On a vendor basis, Hewlett-Packard gained market share, but it under-performed compared to its main rivals. It fared better in distribution compared to the second quarter, however, it is still enduring dissatisfaction around its channel strategy. Dell and Fujitsu-Siemens outgrew the market, and the combined share of the top five vendors continues to increase, heightening the prospect of market consolidation in the middle to lower tiers of the market.
In the Asia/Pacific region, India and Australia showed some of the strongest shipment increases, with growth rates of 30 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Shipments in China grew by 11 percent, however a major concern going forward is the impact of government control measures to prevent overheating of the Chinese economy, according to Gartner. PC shipments in Latin America grew by 29 percent in the third quarter. The strong shipment increase, says Gartner, is attributed to PC replacement demand, lower interest rates, flexible PC vendor purchasing programs, broadband deployment and better system specification/price point positioning.