Worldwide PC shipments experienced double-digit growth
in the second quarter, the first time since the third quarter of
2000, according to Gartner research.
Second-quarter shipments increased 10% from the same period last
year to 32.8 million, the market research group said .
Charles Smulders, vice president of Gartner's worldwide
computing platforms group, said the PC industry performed better
than expected, suggesting that market conditions are improving.
He warned, however, that sustained improvement will depend on
economic conditions and their effect on the business upgrade
cycle.
Recent survey data from Gartner confirmed that US corporate IT
budgets remain tight.
Four of top five suppliers worldwide achieved double-digit
growth rates in the second quarter. Dell was top with a 17.6%
market share, shipping 5.8 million PCs in the second quarter
compared with 4.6 million the year before, representing a growth
rate of 29.5%.
Hewlett-Packard garnered 16.1% market share. In the second
quarter, shipping 5.3 million PCs compared with 4.7 million the
year before, representing a growth rate of 12.1%.
Even though IBM boosted growth by 13.4%, shipping 2.2 million
PCs, the company came third with a 6.7% market share.
Fujitsu., in fourth place, shipped 1.3 million units in the
second quarter, or 10.8% more than the year before, accounting for
a 4% market share.
NEC was the only top-five supplier to experience a
second-quarter dip in shipments, down 2.7%. The vendor has a market
share of 3.1%.
Second-quarter PC shipments in the US rose 11.1%, partly driven
by strong demand from the consumer and education segments.
Competitive pricing and mobile PCs were important drivers in the
home market.
Dell also led the pack in the US with a second-quarter growth
rate of 26.1%, shipping 3.7 million units. With a market share of
31.1% Dell nearly surpassed the combined 32.8% unit shipment share
of HP, IBM, Gateway and Apple .
The PC market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
exceeeded expectation in the second quarter, with unit shipments up
13% over the same period the year before, according to preliminary
figures released by Gartner. This growth was the strongest in the
region since 1999, the market research group said.
However, while PC sales to consumers failed to rebound from the
slowdown at the end of the first quarter of 2003, shipments to
businesses accelerated.
In Europe, HP was the top vendor, with a 19.4% market share and
13.3 % growth rate in the second quarter. HP shipped 1.7 million
units in the quarter.
Even though Dell, with a market share of 9.7%, remained a
distant second to HP, the company showed a strong second-quarter
performance with a growth rate of 31.2%.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers was the third largest supplier, with a
market share of 6.6% and a growth rate of 3.8%. Fujitsu Siemens was
followed by IBM with a 5.7% market share and 18.9% growth rate.
Meanwhile, Acer, second only to Dell with a growth rate of 25.3%
was the fifth largest supplier of PCs in Europe with a market share
of 4.6% in the second quarter.
PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific region fellow below
expectations, largely because of the Sars outbreak. Data on unit
shipments in the region were not immediately available.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service