Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment
Estimates for Q208 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs
and X86 servers. Source: Gartner (July 2008)
Posted on 07/16/2008 10:33:39 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Worldwide PC shipments reached 71.9 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 16 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.
"Mobile PCs continued to lead unit growth across all regions as the average selling price (ASP) of mobile PCs declined sharply relative to desk-based PC ASPs," said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner's Client Computing Markets group, in the press release. "Economic uncertainties have hit PC revenues, resulting in steep ASP declines, especially in markets such as the United States and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. The industry could ultimately see a significant wave of consolidation if stronger vendors continue to press their pricing advantage."
HP continued to maintain the No. 1 position with its worldwide PC shipment market share totaling 18.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008 (see Table 1). HP's growth rate exceeded the industry average in the worldwide market, and its growth rate was little above the industry average in the U.S.
Dell had another strong quarter with worldwide PC shipments increasing 21.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008 and its market share reaching 15.6 percent. The company's growth was fueled by its expansion into retail and other indirect channels. Preliminary results show Dell achieved over 40 percent year-over-year growth in mobile shipments for two consecutive quarters.
PC shipments in the United States reached 16.5 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 4.2 percent increase from the same period last year. U.S. PC shipments actually accelerated during the quarter, despite continuing U.S. economic woes. However, this acceleration appears to have been achieved at the expense of revenues as vendors appear to have cut prices in response to those woes.
"Home mobile PCs continue to have momentum in the U.S. market. However, ASP declines were greater here than in other segments. The retail space was a harsh pricing environment during the quarter," Ms. Kitagawa said in the press release. "U.S. professional units look to have been affected by tightening IT budgets as U.S. business responded to growing economic uncertainty. Desk-based PCs gained traction among some professional users. Because desk-based PC deployment costs are still lower than that of mobile PCs, desk-based PCs provide a less expensive option for these buyers with tighter budgets."
Several mini-notebook PCs were introduced in the U.S. market during the second quarter. However, this platform is still emerging and did not significantly contribute to overall shipment growth. Preliminary data shows the mini-notebook segment accounted for less than 3 percent of U.S. mobile PC shipments.
In the U.S. PC market, Dell continued to be the market leader with PC shipments accounting for 31.9 percent of the U.S. market in the second quarter of 2008 (see Table 2). HP's growth rate was slightly ahead of the U.S. average, and it appears HP's issues around inventory were resolved in the quarter. Apple's PC shipments grew 38.1 percent in the quarter. The home PC segment continued to be the strongest driver for Apple, as well as sales into the education segment.
PC shipments in EMEA reached 23.1 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 23.5 percent increase from the same period last year. The strong shipment growth was linked to the decline in ASPs, especially in consumer mobile PCs. Some of the ASP declines are also an attempt by vendors to shift increasing inventory levels in retail channels. Shipment growth was strong across all countries, with the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa still exhibiting the strongest increases. The strength of the mobile market continued; demand for notebooks remained very strong with growth over 40 percent.
In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments totaled 20.1 million units, up 18.1 percent from the second quarter of last year. In the professional market, there was not a significant slowdown in PC purchases as replacements and capital investments continued, benefiting multinational vendors such as HP, Dell and Lenovo. Mobile PC shipments grew 45.6 percent in the quarter.
PC shipments in Latin America grew 23.2 percent in the second quarter of 2008, as shipments in the region reached 7 million units. White boxes are gaining new momentum with support by AMD, Intel and Microsoft. Notebook PCs posted 55 percent growth in the quarter, while desk-based systems grew at an estimated 10 percent.
In Japan, PC shipments reached 3.6 million units, an 8.2 percent increase from the same period last year. Mobile PCs grew at a high single-digit to a low teen-digit rate, while desk-based PCs showed low single-digit growth. Replacement demand for commercial mobile PCs in large enterprises and sales of $500 mini-notebooks were two of the growth accelerators for the second quarter of 2008.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe. Additional research can be found on Gartner's Computing Hardware section on Gartner's Web site at http://www.gartner.com/it/products/research/asset_129157_2395.jsp.
Source: Gartner, Inc.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers "samir," "Spark," and "Brawndo Drinker" for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Mac's Q208 U.S. growth of 38.1% was over nine times (9x) that of the U.S. PC market (4.2%) as a whole.
Soon, enough Mac users will be out there, armed with a decent amount of Apple Retail Stores close at hand, that they'll be able to influence their tech-challenged family, friends, and neighbors enough to dissuade them from blindly running on over to Wal-Mart to inflict yet another dreadful Windows PC mess upon their ignorant selves. And then the Mac tsunami really hits.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Apple takes the number 3 computer vendor slot in the US edging Acer.
So Walmart is prohibited by Apple from selling Macs? Fry's electronics sells them so they do not have an exclusive distribution channel.
It is a computer, not a religion.
This comes as no surprise. Microsoft hasn’t really done anything new and positive for themselves in years, outside of the X-Box.
So Walmart is prohibited by Apple from selling Macs?Soon, enough Mac users will be out there, armed with a decent amount of Apple Retail Stores close at hand, that they'll be able to influence their tech-challenged family, friends, and neighbors enough to dissuade them from blindly running on over to Wal-Mart to inflict yet another dreadful Windows PC mess upon their ignorant selves. And then the Mac tsunami really hits.
You haven't been to an Apple Store, apparently. It is a pleasure to shop there, once you have decided that you want a computer at a high enough quality point to justify the price (if you want a cheap Mac, you need a used one - and even they hold their value). In my experience the staff is competent and helpful, and don't pressure you to go upscale. They aren't, can't possibly be, on commission.So you aren't ignored or talked down to or confronted with ignorance, and you aren't pressured - what's not to like?
Who said they did? You'll also find Mini-Apple stores in most Best Buy Stores as well. Each Best Buy has a couple of Apple employees to staff the store as well. Apple chooses it's authorized retail selling partners very carefully.
It's a computer, not a religion.
You know, the only people who keep claiming that Mac users are cultists and treat their computers as religious idols are WINDOWS users who really have no experience except Windows.
Oh, and they do repairs there, too. Not exactly what you'd look for in a Walmart.
I have actually had them try to talk me down. I had to say no, I have the money and I have the lust for the MacBook Pro hand it over.
Really... my first computer was a PDP8 ... mac IS a cult..
When did you last use an OS X Mac?
Yes, but eventually, if the trend continues Worldwide Widget Company will overtake Mega Widget Company in sales.
Apple's sustained sales numbers are an indicator of growth momentum. The contrast of the actual numbers only serves to show how much more room Apple has to grow. Consider that Apple's market are both new computer buyers and switchers from Windows to Mac. The PC computer companies aren't really competing to get Apple users to switch to Windows. They're trying to win as many of the new computer buyers as possible while trying to keep current customers from switching to Apple Macintosh. So Apple has the greater growth potential of the three top PC makers and the business model that is working. Go figure.
Ubuntu, it’s free.
Yep, can’t say I’d ever buy a Mac, but no doubt Vista has made a lot of PC buyers think twice. When XP becomes useless, all my boxes go to Linux.
. . . but eventually, if the trend continues, Worldwide Widget Company will overtake Mega Widget Company in sales.their actual number of units sold are 1,100 to 4.
Fine post. I would address the issue of whether the trend will continue by looking at the big - or is it the small? picture of Jobs' strategic vision. Which is that as Moore's Law plays out on the hardware side, the software side is your primary limitation. So Jobs started out from the belief in Unix, a full-blown operating system rather than something which would fit on an early PC with, by big iron standards of that era, de minimus memory and processing speed. That belief resulted in Jobs' making an elegant break from the OS style of the microcomputer past to a Unix implemented on the the current physically small "big iron" computers that will fit, not merely in a tower Mac Pro computer or in a laptop or even a Macbook Air but in an iPhone (and as, and probably not if, they identify value in doing so, in a tiny iPod in the not-so-distant future).Having engineered the transition by making the first OS X macs capable of running legacy software as well as Unix software and by helping the developers switch to OS X with major development aids, and by switching to Intel and thereby enabling Parallels and Boot camp, Jobs has put AAPL in the catbird seat. Microsoft is in an excruciating position. They could transition their legacy base in some fashion similar to Jobs' coup, switching to a more elegant solution much like Unix/OS X (or perhaps something even more elegant is out there) but in so doing they would place every user at a decision point where it could easily make more sense merely to switch to mac/OS X able to run Parallels than to follow the Microsoft migration path.
Having gone (physically) small with the iPod and the iPhone and its distinct strength in laptops, Jobs now assays to fill in the high-performance end with Snow Leopard. Which basically will be a consolidation upgrade which will enable developers (including Apple itself) to more readily exploit to the fullest all the data processing capabilities of a given mac and ultimately of a given iPhone/iPod Touch. Success in that effort will tend to make it practical to apply OS X to everything from an iPod to a supercomputer.
So Apple is setting the standard not merely in its stylish hardware but in consistent and elegant software across the spectrum of hardware. All while setting the standard in what Alvin Toffler called a "high touch" with its Apple Stores. The conclusion is that as presently constituted AAPL is the kind of company that should be eating the lunch of a Microsoft.
I’m responding from my new IMac. I made the switch three weeks ago. I’ve been a Microsoft user since my first PC and we run Microsoft products at work. After a couple of day’s adjustment learning the system, I find myself wishing we had Apples at work.
I’m responding from my new IMac. I made the switch three weeks ago. I’ve been a Microsoft user since my first PC and we run Microsoft products at work. After a couple of day’s adjustment learning the system, I find myself wishing we had Apples at work.
The kicker is that a comfortable Apple Store makes over four times the money per square foot than Best Buy makes with its crowded aisles. IIRC, Tiffany's comes closest although still far behind. People are always talking about the technical and marketing achievements behind Apple, but there's the added aspect of having reinvented the retail business.
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