Global PC Shipments Fall in Latest Quarter

By Aisha Al-Muslim

Personal-computer shipments in the first quarter declined world-wide, driven by a shortage of Intel Corp. computer processors, according to preliminary data from two research firms.

The shortage largely affected smaller vendors, as the largest companies in the space -- Lenovo Group, HP Inc. and Dell Technologies -- had better access to computer chips and saw their market share increase, according to the latest reports from Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp.

"The top three vendors world-wide were still able to increase shipments despite the supply constraint [of CPUs] by focusing on their high-end products and taking share from small vendors that struggled to secure CPUs," Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal analyst at Gartner, said in prepared remarks.

The three vendors accounted for 61.5% of global PC shipments in the first quarter of 2019, compared with 56.9% in the first quarter of 2018, according to Gartner.

While both firms track sell-in numbers -- units shipped to companies' warehouses -- rather than direct sales to consumers, much of the difference in their data comes from how each firm defines PCs. Gartner excludes Chromebooks from calculations but includes so-called ultramobile premiums, such as Microsoft Surface, which IDC excludes.

Both firms reported that business PC demand remained strong in the first quarter, driven by Windows 10 migration deployments. Gartner forecasts that 2019 will be the last year in which shipments will be impacted by the PC refresh.

Overall, Gartner said, preliminary data showed world-wide PC shipments totaled 58.5 million units in the first quarter, down 4.6% from the year earlier.

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 11 million units, down 6.3% from the year earlier.

Similarly, IDC said world-wide shipments reached 58.5 million units, a 3% decrease from 2018, beating the firm's forecast. According to its data, the U.S. market recorded a year-over-year decline in notebooks volume as consumer demand softened during the quarter.

"We saw the start of a rebound in PC shipments in mid-2018, but anticipation of a disruption by CPU shortages impacted all PC markets as vendors allocated to the higher-margin business and Chromebook segment," Ms. Kitagawa said. "While the consumer market remained weak, the mix of product availability may have also hindered demand."

In the U.S., Gartner said HP held on to the No. 1 spot based on shipments. IDC data, meanwhile, showed HP managed to regain the top position globally based on shipments after Lenovo slipped into second place after two quarters in the top position.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 10, 2019 18:00 ET (22:00 GMT)

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