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Gartner Says Lower Prices and Mobility Drive Worldwide PC Shipments to 17 Percent Increase in Third Quarter of 2005

Posted on: Monday, 17 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 55 million units in the third quarter of 2005, a 17.2 percent increase from the third quarter of 2004, according to Gartner, Inc.

"Strong market growth continued to be driven by lower prices and mobility in the third quarter," said Charles Smulders, vice president of Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide Group. "These factors sped up new PC adoption and replacement activities. Overall market growth exceeded expectations, with home demand for mobile being particularly strong."

Dell continued to lead the PC industry in worldwide PC shipments (see Table 1). However for the first time in 7 years, Dell's worldwide PC shipment growth rate was essentially equal to the worldwide average, rather than significantly above it. Gartner analysts said the results reflect Dell's focus on increasing profitability rather than pursuing market share gains.

Table 1 Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q05 (Thousands of Units) 3Q05 3Q05 Market 3Q04 3Q04 Market 3Q05-3Q04 Company Shipments Share (%) Shipments Share (%) Growth (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dell Inc. 9,243.9 16.8 7,861.0 16.7 17.6 Hewlett-Packard 8,350.0 15.2 7,049.3 15.0 18.5 Lenovo 4,050.2 7.4 3,459.6 7.4 17.1 Acer 2,442.7 4.4 1,580.5 3.4 54.5 Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens 2,036.7 3.7 1,730.7 3.7 17.7 Others 28,918.6 52.5 25,288.0 53.8 14.4 Total 55,042.1 100.0 46,969.1 100.0 17.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers. Source: Gartner Dataquest (October 2005)

Hewlett-Packard's worldwide growth was slightly ahead of the worldwide average. HP experienced steady growth in the United States, but disappointing results in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. In EMEA, HP's weaker desk-based PC growth dragged down overall regional growth.

In the United States, PC shipments totaled 17.9 million units in the third quarter of 2005, a 10.5 percent increase from the same period last year (see Table 2). Back to school PC purchases were the largest growth segment for vendors. The home market received a boost from mobile PC sales.

"Solid mobile PC growth in the U.S. home market indicates the growing number of households with multiple PCs," said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst in Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide Group.

Table 2 Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q05 (Thousands of Units) Company 3Q05 3Q05 Market 3Q04 3Q04 Market 3Q05-3Q04 Shipments Share (%) Shipments Share (%) Growth (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dell Inc. 5,505.7 30.7 4,918.8 30.3 11.9 Hewlett-Packard 3,430.0 19.1 3,093.2 19.1 10.9 Gateway 1,070.0 6.0 800.1 4.9 33.7 Lenovo 751.6 4.2 721.0 4.4 4.2 Apple Computer 744.4 4.2 520.9 3.2 42.9 Others 6,428.3 35.9 6,173.0 38.0 4.1 Total 17,930.0 100.0 16,227.1 100.0 10.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers. Source: Gartner Dataquest (October 2005)

In EMEA, PC shipments increased more than 18 percent in the third quarter of 2005. PC sales were driven by strong demand for consumer and professional mobile PCs. PC prices have stabilized in the region, but demand continued to be strong. Gartner analysts said this may indicate price points for consumer mobile PCs have reached an optimal point encouraging new users and replacement buyers to purchase sooner than expected.

In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments grew more than 31 percent. This growth rate was attributed to strong demand from the Northern Asian countries, namely China, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, as well as India.

PC shipments in Japan grew 9 percent in the third quarter of 2005. Most of the major vendors introduced new products targeting the year-end shopping season in early September. Last year, PC vendors were impacted by an extremely hot summer in Japan, as many consumers bought air conditioning units instead of PCs. This year, PC vendors have done much better in the consumer segment.

In Latin America, PC shipments increase 22 percent. Low-cost government-sponsored PC programs attributed to strong sales, including a newly created initiative in Chile. Consumer sales continued to gain momentum as prices continued to decline.

These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe. To subscribe to this program, please call 408-468-8000. Additional research can be found on Gartner's Client Platforms Focus Area on Gartner's Web site at http://www.gartner.com/research/focus_areas/asset_57051_815.jsp.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 9,000 clients, including CIOs and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Gartner Research and Events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customized engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has over 3,900 associates, including more than 1,200 research analysts and consultants in more than 75 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

Source: Business Wire

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