US PC makers have witnessed the worst holiday quarter in a decade, according to IDC. The researcher recorded a 5.31% decline in worldwide shipments from the end of 2010, while US-specific shipments fell 6.71% in the same period. Overall, the global industry grew 1.60% when comparing full year stats for 2010 and 2011, but the US market shrank 4.93% year-over-year. The decline comes amidst ongoing economic uncertainty, supply shortages in a flooded Thailand and the upsurge of tablets.
Although it's still the largest PC vendor in the US and worldwide, HP represents a bulk of the loss. The company shed 15.93% of its worldwide shipments and 25.30% in the US during the fourth quarter, leaving it with shares of approximately 19% and 26% in each respective market. Dell, the second largest US computer manufacturer with a share of ~22%, shipped 4.70% less units during holiday 2011 than a year ago, though it felt a 7.30% growth in the global market, moving nearly 12 million units.
Apple holds third place in IDC's US rankings, experiencing a growth of 18% in the fourth quarter, shipping just over 2 million units. Toshiba and Acer rounded out the top five US manufacturers, the latter of which fared especially poor with a 14.37% decline in US shipments. Lenovo scored second place in the global Q4 chart, moving 36.77% more units than the year-ago quarter. Asus witnessed similar success with shipments increasing 26.29% to 6.2 million, earning it fifth place in the global standings.
Accompanying the fourth quarter results, IDC has released full year stats, but they tell a similar story: HP and Acer slipped universally, Dell lost share in the US but expanded internationally, Apple exploded in the US while Lenovo and Asus had a strong showing in worldwide shipments. Researchers at Gartner have released a separate report marking a holiday decline of 1.4% globally and 5.9% in the US with the usual suspects in their expected positions, albeit with slightly different shipments and shares.
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