Strong PC sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 helped make up
for a slow start, and in the end, the 2009 worldwide PC market achieved 2.3
percent year-on-year growth, according to a Jan. 13 report from IDC.
Last year’s outcome was helped by a solid holiday
shopping season, which saw price cuts of an “unprecedented
duration,” according to IDC. In the United States, this trend lead to a
new record of nearly 20.7 million units shipped during the fourth quarter of
2009, resulting in a year-on-year growth of 24 percent.
Worldwide, shipments were particularly bolstered by markets
in Asia/Pacific and Latin America and concluded with 15.2 percent year-on-year
growth for the quarter.
In addition to lowered PC prices, IDC pointed to improving
economic indicators and “pent-up demand” as additional factors
leading to the welcome growth.
“First is the rubber-band effect and recover from the
year-ago quarter, which suffered from buyer contraction when the economic
crisis was confirmed,” wrote IDC analyst David Daoud, explaining the
factors that led to the growth.
“The vendors responded with new low price points to
stimulate demand and face competition. In this context, low-cost notebooks and
mini-notebooks were the biggest contributors to the successful fourth
quarter,” Daoud continued. “Once again, the consumer market
overcame the weak commercial sector to save the quarter.”
U.S.
manufactures have expressed hopes that the Oct. 21 launch of Microsoft’s
Windows 7 would encourage sales, particularly from enterprises needing to
update older systems. IDC wrote, however, that Windows 7 did affect consumer
purchases, albeit moderately. Enterprises, it explained, will proceed more
slowly, waiting for “tangible signs of sustained economic growth before
launching a new refresh cycle.”
After three quarters of declines, Europe, the Middle East
and Africa (EMEA) returned to positive growth, largely thanks to the sales of
netbooks and other low-cost mobile PCs. In Japan, the market exceeded
expectation, growing 4.3 percent during the quarter, and Asia/Pacific,
excluding Japan, led global sales, with year-on-year growth of 31 percent,
spearheaded, IDC wrote, by “bellwethers like China.”
Worldwide, HP led PC shipments in the fourth quarter of
2009, shipping nearly 18 million units and grabbing 21 percent market share.
The quarter was a particularly strong one for Acer, which pulled ahead of Dell
to take the second position, shipping 11.4 million units, for 13.4 percent
market share.
A third-place Dell shipped 10.6 million units worldwide in
the fourth quarter worldwide, grabbing 12.4 percent market share, while a
fourth-place Lenovo shipped 7.8 million units, for 9.2 percent of the market
share. Toshiba followed with 4.8 million units and 5.6 percent market share
worldwide.
In the United States, HP remained on top, with 29.2 percent
market share, but Dell
grabbed the number-two spot back from Acer, with its 11.9 percent market
share. In third place, Acer garnered 11.9 percent market share, Toshiba jumped
up to the fourth spot, with 8.3 percent market share — and a notable
year-on-year growth of 71.5 percent — and Apple followed in fifth place,
with 7.4 percent of U.S. market share in the fourth quarter.
Worldwide for the year, however, it was Dell that held the
number two spot. While HP shipped 59.9 million units in 2009, Dell followed
with 38.41 — for a market share of 13.1 percent, which allowed it to
squeak by Acer, with its year-end total of 37.37 million units, for a market
share of 13.0 percent.
Lenovo followed in fourth, with 24.9 million units for the
year and 8.5 percent market share, and Toshiba came in behind it, with 15.9
million units and 5.4 percent market share.
“The market has weathered a storm which looks to be
behind us,” wrote Jay Chou, an IDC analyst. “But salvaging
decreasing margins will soon become even more pertinent as one considers the
long-term effects of holding market share at the cost of profitability.”
In
October, analysts similarly warned that while inexpensive netbooks were helping
to boost sales numbers, their low average selling price were negatively
impacting the PC market’s revenue.
“Without an effective strategy to convey a clear usage
model and feature set tied to each segment, the market will inevitably continue
down the slippery slope of ‘good enough’ computing sold to the
lowest bidder,” wrote Chou.
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