Notebook shipments push PC market growth
35187
Blog: Better first-quarter shipments of notebooks cause research firm iSuppli to extend the yearly market forecast for PCs.
407711
(InfoWorld) - PC vendors reported global shipment growth of 12.5 percent in the second quarter as every major vendor except Dell posted a double-digit percentage increase in unit shipments compared to the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. Dell shipped 4.9 percent fewer PCs during the quarter than it did in 2006 as the company continued to struggle with a corporate restructuring effort that has included deep job cuts, changes in executive leadership, and a new strategy of selling computers through retail channels instead of only online. In contrast, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) consolidated its position as the world's largest PC vendor with unit shipment growth of 36.5 percent. Overall, vendors sold 58.8 million PCs in the quarter, IDC said. A report released on the same day by Gartner showed similar results with Dell sliding 5.5 percent compared to HP's growth of 36.6 percent. Gartner reported that global PC shipments rose 11.7 percent to 61.1 million units. HP is seeing good results because of a multifaceted approach that allows the company to concentrate its sales efforts on new regions if sales slump in another sector, said David Daoud, manager of the personal computing and PC tracker programs at IDC. "They are not putting all their eggs in a single basket," he said. "That is the result for a company that has adopted a multifaceted approach. PC shipments were slightly better than expected in the U.S., but they have done even better outside the U.S. in emerging markets and western Europe. So they can manage multiple regions." Despite the contrast in trends, none of the top five vendors changed their worldwide rankings by market share. For the quarter, HP claimed the top spot with 19.3 percent of global PC sales volume, leading Dell with 16.1 percent, Lenovo with 8.3 percent, Acer with 7.2 percent and Toshiba with 4.1 percent, according to IDC. The Gartner study showed the same rankings. However, Acer could soon begin to climb the rankings, if its success continues. The company improved its PC shipment volume by 55.4 percent in the second quarter, pulling close behind Lenovo, which grew at 22.3 percent. "Acer is laser-focused on particular segments, especially SMB and channel resellers," Daoud said. "They are just plowing." In the U.S., Acer is only the sixth-biggest PC vendor but showed the fastest rise in shipments, improving by 163.8 percent over the second quarter of 2006. Overall, the U.S. market is lead by Dell with 28.4 percent market share by shipments, then HP with 23.6 percent, Gateway and Apple with 5.6 percent each, Toshiba with 5.3 percent, and Acer with 5.2 percent. IDC counts PC shipments including sales of desktops, notebooks, ultraportables, and x86 servers, but not handhelds. Overall, the global market achieved its 12.5 percent shipment growth in the quarter thanks to good activity in the Asia-Pacific region and to slightly better than expected activity in the U.S., Daoud said. That growth rate was higher than the first quarter, when shipments rose 10.9 percent over that period in the previous year, and higher than the second quarter of 2006, when shipments rose 9.7 percent year on year. For the future, consumers continue to buy notebooks instead of desktops as the cost premium between the two models has narrowed to its smallest differential yet. IDC forecast strong growth in the second half of 2007 but said that market competition will be more complex than just cutting prices. Instead, PC vendors will try to get customers' attention with system design, customer service, channel coverage, and market expansion.
348901
Worldwide shipments of personal computers grew nearly 12 percent in the third quarter, driven by strong European sales and rising commercial demand, according to IDC, a research company that tracks shipments.    A PC shipments report released Monday by another firm, Gartner, Inc., reported quarterly growth of 9.7 percent, with lower-than-expected U.S...
475730
Semiconductor sales worldwide surged to a monthly record of $20.5 billion in August, fueled by higher demand for memory chips used in PCs and mobile gadgets such as cell phones and digital cameras, an industry group reported Monday.
488564
Taiwanese PC vendor Acer predicts its PC shipments will grow as much as 35 percent this year led by a strong notebook PC market, a pace of growth that could see the company challenge U.S. rivals by the end of this year.Acer&#39;s revenue grew 25 percent last year to NT$461.7 billion (US$14.42 billion) and the company made inroads to the world&#39;s largest PC market, the U.S., by acquiring Gateway. The revenue figure is preliminary and only includes Gateway&#39;s last two and a half months of the year because the merger process took place late in the year.Acer bought Gateway&#160;for US$710 million last year.But the figures and PC shipments had a tremendous impact on Acer&#39;s global PC rankings in the final three months of 2007.The company took a solid third place in global PC shipments last year,&#160;topping Chinese rival Lenovo and gaining ground on Dell. Acer&#39;s global PC shipment market share during the fourth quarter of 2007 reached 9.6 percent in the fourth quarter, up 60 percent over the same time a year earlier, according to IDC, the industry researcher.Lenovo, which had been jockeying for third place with Acer all year, fell to fourth with a 7.5 percent share of the global market. HP retained its first place ranking with 19 percent market share, while Dell remained firmly in second place at 14.6 percent.&quot;Combined Acer/Gateway growth continued to be the fastest among the top vendors and is a very solid performance for the first quarter of merged operations,&quot; IDC said in a statement. &quot;Acer also clearly established itself as the third largest vendor, overtaking Lenovo, and seems to be handling the Gateway integration quickly,&quot; the statement says.This year, Acer forecast its PC shipments overall will rise between 30 percent and 35 percent, led by 40 percent shipment growth in notebook PCs. Such strong growth could help the company challenge Dell, which saw its PC shipments grow only 1.7 percent in 2007, according to figures from Gartner. The market researcher put Acer&#39;s shipment growth last year at 32.9 percent for the year.Acer&#39;s chairman, J.T. Wang, predicted last October that Acer could take up to a 12 percent share of the global PC market, putting it in the position to challenge Dell.Acer&#39;s net profit was NT$12.9 billion in 2007, up from NT$10.2 billion a year earlier. The company&#39;s 2007 figures are all preliminary, Acer said. Final results will be published later.&#160;
15357
Shipments of personal computers  this year will be higher than previously anticipated, boosted  by the strongest demand from businesses in five years, research  firm IDC said on Monday.
601273
Aggressive prices and Microsoft's Vista spurred consumers to purchase more notebooks in the first quarter than expected.
732092
Dell 'turns corner' as HP marches on Computer makers saw worldwide shipments increase by more than 15 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007, but analysts have warned that growth is likely to slow over the next few years as the credit crunch bites.â¦
764445
The number of personal computers worldwide is expected to double to about 1.3 billion by 2010, driven by explosive growth in emerging markets such as China, Russia and India, according to a report released on Tuesday by Forrester Research Inc.
44927
(InfoWorld) - The world's largest contract laptop computer maker shipped over 2 million notebook computers in the month of January, an all-time high for a single month, due to strong orders ahead of the launch ofÂ Microsoft Windows Vista, the company's president said Friday. Taiwan's Quanta Computer, which counts Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard among its clients, also expects its sales this year to exceed NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion), said Michael Wang, Quanta's president. Last year, its sales were NT$461.5 billion. This year, Quanta expects to ship over 25 million laptop computers, up about 30 percent over last year. The company believes the notebook computer industry will experience strong growth over the next three years. Despite strong laptop computer shipments, Quanta has seen profit margins fall as stiff competition among PC vendors forces pricing down. There are also several contract laptop makers for vendors to choose from, ensuring competitive bidding for big orders. To combat lower margins, Quanta has expanded its product offerings to include mobile phones, smartphones, and Apple iPods.
109392
Blog: Apple's market share in the PC industry jumped a couple of points in May, although the numbers exclude Dell's total shipments.
379485
Makers of PCs will ship 191.4 million units in 2004, a 13.4 percent increase from a year ago, according to research company iSuppli.
616386
The personal computer maker reported solid sales growth for the second quarter.
658478
Business demand for PCs will result in higher than anticipated growth of the sector for the second half of the year. Analyst IDC has revised its predictions having witnessed strong commercial demand for PCs
415757
Sales of notebook computers rose 40 percent in the first quarter.
415038
Third-quarter PC shipments in the US increased 5 percent from the same period a year ago. That was below analysts&#39; forecast of an increase of more than 8 percent.
755467
Lenovo Group said its net income almost tripled during its third fiscal quarter, thanks to strong demand for its computers and a weak U.S. dollar.Lenovo&#39;s sales during the quarter came to $4.6 billion, up 15 percent over the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The company reported net income of $172 million for the quarter, compared to $58 million a year earlier.The results announcement came late. Lenovo was originally scheduled to report its financial results on Wednesday, but missed a filing deadline with the Hong Kong stock exchange that forced the company to delay releasing its results by one day, it said in a statement.Third-quarter PC shipments rose 22 percent compared to the previous year, which Lenovo said outpaced the industry average of 16 percent. That growth likely grew Lenovo&#39;s share of the global PC market from 7.1 percent to 7.5 percent, the company said.China continued to be Lenovo&#39;s strongest market, with shipments up by 25 percent during the third quarter. Strong desktop PC sales boosted shipments in the Americas by 15 percent, while the company saw 24 percent growth in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Strong demand in India helped boost shipments in Asia-Pacific, excluding China, by 20 percent, it said.Looking ahead, Lenovo noted that the economic outlook is uncertain, but said continued strong demand for PCs in Asia and emerging markets elsewhere means PC shipments will continue to see double-digit growth. The company is counting on the expansion of consumer PC and server sales into markets outside China to give it a boost in the months ahead.Lenovo also announced plans to sell its mobile-phone business, which saw phone shipments decrease by 31 percent during the fiscal third quarter. A group of private-equity investors will buy the business in a deal valued at $100 million, Lenovo said in a separate filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.