PC shipments fell less than expected

PC shipments declined less than expected in the first quarter, propped up by consumers' continuing interest in low-cost netbooks, IDC says.
PC shipments fell less than expected

The quarter saw Hewlett-Packard surpass Dell as the number one PC vendor in the US.

HP's shipments climbed by 12% from the same quarter last year, while Dell's slipped by 16%, worse than any other vendor. HP also led the pack in worldwide sales, IDC says.

PC shipments worldwide, including desktop and notebook PCs, totalled 63.4 million in the quarter, down by 7.1% from the first quarter last year but better than IDC's forecast of an 8.2% decline.

While concerns about the recession continue to weigh on commercial spending, "PC demand has nevertheless remained somewhat resilient compared to the last downturn," IDC says.

Falling prices, fuelled in part by increased netbook sales, helped to minimise the contraction, it says.

The survey was published a day after Intel CEO Paul Otellini said PC sales had bottomed out during the first quarter, and that demand was returning to "normal seasonal patterns".

Intel still didn't provide a forecast for the coming quarters, however, citing the economic uncertainty.

After some PC makers have reported several consecutive quarters of falling shipments, many saw their numbers improve in the first three months of this year.

Worldwide, HP, Acer and Toshiba all reported growth in shipments, of 3%, 7% and 11.6% respectively. Worldwide shipments at Dell slipped by almost 17%, while those of Lenovo fell by 8%.

The worldwide ranking stayed unchanged from last year, with HP at the top, followed by Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba.

In the US, HP had a very good quarter, with shipments up by 12%. Acer and Toshiba also did well, while shipments at Dell and Apple both declined.

The US ranking had HP on top, followed by Dell, Acer, Apple and Toshiba. Apple's share of unit shipments was 7.6%, IDC says.

Source: Computing SA

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