--Gartner says world-wide PC shipments fell 4.9% in fourth
quarter from a year ago.
--Firm says tablets have caused a shift in consumption; Windows
8 didn't have a significant impact.
--Gartner data follows IDCs research, which pegged the
world-wide decline at 6.4%.
(Updates with data from IDC)
By Saabira Chaudhuri
World-wide PC shipments dropped 4.9% in the fourth quarter
pointing to a structural shift rather than just a weak economy,
according to new data from technology research firm Gartner Inc.
(IT)
"Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs,
not so much by 'cannibalizing' PC sales, but by causing PC users to
shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs," said
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "Whereas as once we
imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and
a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most
individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet,
and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC."
Gartner said that during the recent holiday season, consumers no
longer viewed PCs as the number one gift item and the launch of
Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows 8 didn't have a significant impact
on PC shipments in the fourth quarter.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) regained the top position in
world-wide PC shipments in the fourth quarter with more than 16% of
the world's market share, however, Gartner noted that the company's
shipments didn't grow compared with a year ago. It was followed by
Lenovo Group Ltd. (LNVGY) and Dell Inc. (DELL) with market shares
of 15.5% and 10.2%, respectively. Lenovo also experienced the best
growth rate among the top five PC vendors world-wide, at 8.2%.
World-wide PC shipments totaled 90.3 million units in the fourth
quarter. Mobile PC shipments decreased 11% while desktop PC
shipments declined 6%.
In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 17.5 million units in the
quarter, a 2.1% decline from the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, PC shipments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,
totaled 28.1 million units, a 9.6% decrease from the fourth quarter
of 2011. Gartner noted that Western Europe remained the weak point
across EMEA, as Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and
Africa saw growth quarter-on-quarter.
PC shipments in the Asia-Pacific region totaled 29.9 million
units, a 1.8% decline from the year ago.
Gartner's data follows a Thursday announcement by International
Data Corp. which pegged world-wide PC shipments at 6.4% lower than
the year ago, at 89.8 million units.
IDC noted that the fourth quarter of 2012 marked the first time
in more than five years that the PC market had seen a year-on-year
decline during the holiday season. It too highlighted competing
devices such as tablets as a reason for the decline, and also noted
the absence of any significant impact from Windows 8.
As compared with Gartner's U.S. forecast, IDC had said it saw
U.S. PC sales down 4.5% in the quarter. Like Gartner, it identified
H-P, Lenovo and Dell as having the three top spots in world-wide PC
shipments.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@dowjones.com
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