Market intelligence services provider International Data Corp. or IDC, announced Thursday that global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 declined 6.4 percent from last year. This fell short of IDC’s expectations as the continuing popularity of latest smartphones and media tablets continued to hit PC demand.
This marked the first time in more than five years that the PC market has seen a year-on-year decline during the holiday season, leading to annual decline also.
Looking ahead, IDC said, “As Windows 8 matures, and other corresponding variables such as Ultrabook pricing continue to drop, hopefully the PC market can see a reset in both messaging and demand in 2013.”
IDC revealed in its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker that global PC shipments declined 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 89.79 million units from last year’s 95.91 million units, wider than IDC’s projections for a 4.4 percent drop.
In a statement, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, Jay Chou said, “Although the third quarter was focused on the clearing of Windows 7 inventory, preliminary research indicates the clearance did not significantly boost the uptake of Windows 8 systems in Q4.”
According to IDC, the global PC shipments declined as “consumers as well as PC vendors and distribution channels continued to be diverted from PC sales by ongoing demand for tablets and smartphones.” Apprehensions about the use of touch on Windows PCs vs. tablets also slowed commercial spending on PCs.
For global PC shipments in the fourth quarter, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ: Quote) remained the top vendor but saw shipments edged down 0.6 percent, while China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. (LNVGY.PK) remained at second spot with an 8.2 percent growth.
Dell, Inc. (DELL: Quote), at third spot, reported a 20.8 percent shipment decline, and stayed below the 10 million units per quarter mark, continuing to lose market share. Taiwan-based Acer, Inc. was at the fourth spot, with shipments dropping 28.2 percent, while ASUS, at fifth spot, reported a 5.6 percent growth.
The U.S. market saw a year-over-year drop of 4.5 percent in PC shipments as “limitations in product offerings, in particular for touch screen Tablet PCs, led consumers to once again delay purchases.”
“As anticipated, the U.S. market had a rough ending, dropping 4.5% in the fourth quarter and contributing to a decline of 7% for the full year 2012,” said David Daoud, research director, Personal Computing at IDC.
HP, though holding on to the first spot, reported a 12.4 percent growth in shipments in the U.S., while Dell, at second spot, reported a 16.6 percent decline. Apple, Inc. (AAPL: Quote) shipments edged down 0.2 percent, and was at third spot. In the U.S. market, Lenovo was at the fourth spot with a 11.6 percent growth, while Toshiba Corp. (TOSBF), at fifth spot, recorded the maximum shipment drop of 33.9 percent.
For the full-year 2012, IDC’s preliminary data reveals a 3.2 percent decline in global PC shipments to 352.42 million units from last year’s 363.89 million units. PC Shipments in the U.S. also saw a year-over-year drop of 7.0 percent.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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