Market research firms Gartner and IDC released separate reports yesterday suggesting PC shipments slowed down during the second quarter of the year, as shifting technology trends and a shaky economy dampened demand. The firms estimate worldwide PC shipments fell 0.1% from the same period last year, while the decline in the U.S. was decidedly steeper ranging from 6% to 11%.
Hewlett Packard and Dell suffered the biggest drops during the three months spanning from April through June. Gartner's figures show the former sold 13 million PCs during this time frame, down by 1.8 million units or 12.1% compared to Q2 2011, while Dell was down 11.5% shipping 9.3 million units versus last year's 10.6 million. IDC's estimates are rather similar with a 12.3% drop for HP and 11.9% for Dell.
Gartner: Preliminary worldwide PC vendor unit shipment estimates fo 2Q12
| Company | 2Q12 shipped | 2Q12 market share | 2Q11 shipped | 2Q11 market share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 13,036,548 | 14.9% | 14,838,734 | 16.9% | -12.1% |
| Lenovo | 12,820,301 | 14.7% | 11,160,303 | 12.7% | 14.9% |
| Acer | 9,646,383 | 11.0% | 9,315,341 | 10.6% | 3.6% |
| Dell | 9,349,212 | 10.7% | 10,570,007 | 12.1% | -11.5% |
| Asus | 6,120,957 | 7.0% | 4,416,125 | 5.0% | 38.6% |
| Others | 36,495,872 | 41.7% | 37,256,607 | 42.6% | -2.0% |
| Total | 87,469,273 | 100% | 87,557,116 | 100% | -0.1% |
IDC: Top 5 vendors, worldwide PC shipments, second quarter 2012 (preliminary)
| Company | 2Q12 shipped | 2Q12 market share | 2Q11 shipped | 2Q11 market share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 13,422,000 | 15.5% | 15,298,000 | 17.6% | -12.3% |
| Lenovo | 12,885,000 | 14.9% | 10,290,000 | 11.9% | 25.2% |
| Acer | 9,637,000 | 11.1% | 10,934,000 | 12.6% | -11.9% |
| Dell | 9,020,000 | 10.4% | 8,980,000 | 10.3% | 0.5% |
| Asus | 6,121,000 | 7.1% | 4,379,000 | 5.0% | 39.8% |
| Others | 35,645,000 | 41.1% | 36,944,000 | 42.5% | -.35% |
| Total | 86,731,000 | 100% | 86,826,000 | 100% | -0.1% |
Both Lenovo and Asus showed extremely healthy growth during the quarter. The Chinese computer maker is rapidly approaching HP's number-one spot with around 12.8 million units shipped, a 15-25% growth over the year ago quarter depending on who you ask. Asus on the other hand held on to the fifth spot with 6.1 million units shipped, representing a year-on-year growth of nearly 40%.
When it comes to ultrabooks, the super thin and light laptops that Intel has spent a good chunk of change promoting, the two firms agree that there hasn't been a significant rise in sales, partly due to pricing and people holding off their purchases until the next version of Windows launches later this year.
Also of note, Apple maintained its number three spot for PC shipments in the U.S. with ~12% of the market. Gartner reported a 4.3% increase in shipments to 1.9 million units while IDC estimates it actually dipped 1.1%. Although their data naturally doesn't include iPad shipments, they did note that the tablet along with popular smartphones in the market are partly responsible for the slowdown in PC sales.