PC Shipments Rose Faster Than Expected
Date : 18 Jul 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkWorldwide shipments increased 16 percent from a year ago to 71.9 million PCs, according to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. The company had predicted 11.2 percent growth.
Gartner analyst Mika Kitagawa attributed some of the surge to ongoing trends: rising shipments to emerging markets like China, Brazil, India and Russia; and the increasing number of computers per home thanks to the popularity of laptops.
But economic jitters in mature markets also had a surprisingly positive effect on PC shipments, Kitagawa said.
The analyst had forecast less than 2 percent growth in the U.S. in the shadow of its mortgage and credit market turmoil. But those troubles pushed down PC average selling prices, sparking a 4.2 percent increase in U.S. shipments.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. held on to the top spot in the global market, which it wrested from Dell Inc. in 2006.
But as in the first quarter, Dell's decision to expand sales of computers to retail stores helped it gain ground.
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell's shipments grew 22 percent to 11.2 million computers, while HP shipments rose a slower 17 percent to 13 million.
HP's market share of shipments held steady from the year-ago quarter, at 18.1 percent, while Dell's share edged up to 15.6 percent from 14.8 percent.
China's Lenovo Group Ltd., Taiwan-based Acer Inc. and Japan-based Toshiba Corp. rounded out Gartner's list of the top five, each clocking in with less than 10 percent share.
In June, Gartner upped its outlook for PC shipment growth for all of 2008 to 12.5 percent on the expected strength of worldwide laptop sales.
Despite the blockbuster shipments, Kitagawa said Gartner won't automatically boost its 2008 outlook again. Along...