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Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments in Fourth Quarter of 2011 Declined 1.4 Percent; Year-End Shipments Increased 0.5 Percent

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PCQ Bureau
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After two quarters of positive growth, worldwide PC shipments totaled 92.2 million units in the fourth

quarter of 2011, a 1.4 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2010, according to preliminary

results by Gartner, Inc. These figures were in line with Gartner's earlier forecast of a 1 percent

decline for the fourth quarter of 2011.

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“Continuously low consumer PC demand resulted in weak holiday PC shipments,” said Mikako

Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “While economic uncertainty in Western Europe had an effect

on consumer PC shipments, expectations of a healthier economic outlook in North America could

not stimulate consumer PC demand in that region. The healthy professional PC market as well as

growth in emerging markets could not compensate for the weaknesses in mature markets, with

overall growth still negative.”

Hard-disk drive (HDD) shortages triggered by the October 2011 floods in Thailand had a limited

impact on fourth-quarter PC shipments and prices. However, Gartner analysts said a major impact

will be felt, and this is expected to materialize in the first half of 2012, and potentially continue

throughout 2012. These shortages will temporarily lower PC shipment growth during 2012.

“Ultrabooks were quietly introduced into the market during the 4Q11 holiday season,” Ms. Kitagawa

said. “Ultrabooks didn't seem to draw consumers' attention. Consumers had very little understanding

and awareness of ultrabooks, and only a small group of consumers was willing to pay the price

premium for such models. However, as has been seen this week at the International Consumer

Electronics Show (CES) show, 2012 is a big debut stage for ultrabooks.”

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HP retained its No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2011, despite a shipment decline of 16.2

percent year over year. While the company's new CEO, Meg Whitman, cleared up some confusion

surrounding its PC business, its 4Q11 results were affected by the noise around this issue. HP also

had to battle against aggressive pricing from competitors and deal with weak consumer PC demand

in the holiday season.

Lenovo experienced the strongest growth among the top five vendors, as its PC shipments grew 23

percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, and it further cemented its place as the No. 2 vendor in global

PC shipments. The company's growth was attributed to its aggressive pricing in both the

professional and consumer markets.

Dell had a good quarter with shipment growth in most regions. While the consumer market remained a weak point, Dell enjoyed stable growth in the professional sector, driven by upgrades to Windows 7. Asia/Pacific continued to be the major growth market for Dell, as it achieved 30 percent growth in the region. Asus stayed in the No. 5 position despite generally weak consumer sales. Asus's shift from mini-notebooks to regular notebooks was successful, as close to 80 percent of Asus mobile

PCs shipments were regular notebooks in the fourth quarter of 2011.

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In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 17.9 million units, a 5.9 percent decline compared with the same

quarter last year . U.S. holiday sales were not all that exciting for PC vendors. As expected,

consumers' attention was diverted toward other product categories, especially smartphones and

media tablets. All-in-one (AIO) desktop PCs drew consumers' attention during the holiday season.

The main attractions were large screen sizes and high-definition viewing capability.

HP maintained the No. 1 position in the U.S. PC market in the fourth quarter of 2011, but Dell gained

ground as HP lost substantial market share in the quarter. Apple enjoyed the strongest growth

among the top five vendors. Lenovo's U.S. PC shipments grew 40 percent year-over-year, but its

shipment volume was not enough to squeeze into the top five ranking (it was in the sixth position).

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 28.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 9.6 percent decline

from the same period in 2010. The EMEA PC market experienced its fourth consecutive quarter of

decline, resulting in year-end 2011 shipments decreasing 7.2 percent from 2010. Western Europe

saw weak consumer growth, as an uneasy economic environment squeezed consumer spending on

PCs.

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In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments reached 30.4 million units, an 8.5 percent increase from the fourth

quarter of 2010. The market performance was below Gartner's anticipated growth of 10.6 percent.

The preliminary findings show weaker shipment growth in China, India and Thailand.

The PC market in Latin America grew 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, as shipments

reached 9.3 million units. Because whitebox PC vendors make up a large portion of Latin America's

PC market, last quarter Gartner expected Thailand's HDD shortage to moderately affect growth in

Latin America in the near term. Thus far, anecdotal evidence indicates that many local vendors had

quickly ordered sufficient inventory to exit the fourth quarter unaffected.

PC shipments in Japan declined 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, as shipments totaled 3.9

million units. This was better than Gartner's earlier projection of an 8 percent decline. The

professional market showed a high double-digit decline, while the consumer market saw

mid-single-digit growth.

For the year, worldwide PC shipments totaled 352.8 million units in 2011, a 0.5 percent increase

from 2010 (see Table 3). A weak consumer PC market, particularly in mature markets, was a major

contributor to this stagnation, despite good growth in the professional market. Emerging markets

grew steadily, driven by low initial PC penetration.

Among the top five PC vendors, Lenovo took over the No. 2 spot from Dell. Lenovo continued to gain

market share via aggressive pricing and acquisitions, namely of NEC and Medion. Asus climbed

from sixth to fifth, replacing Toshiba.

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