Worldwide PC Shipments Increased 12% in Q2 07

U.S., Asia/Pacific, and Latin America Markets Experienced Stronger than Expected Growth

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 61.1 million units in the second quarter of 2007, an 11.7 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc. These results were better than Gartner’s previous projection of 10.6 percent growth for the quarter.

“The PC market experienced a boost from better than expected sales in the United States, Asia/Pacific and Latin America,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s Client Computing Markets group. “The U.S. deskbased PC market beat our expectations, due in part to higher than expected sales in the professional market. In the Asia/Pacific region, China and South East Asia saw strong shipment growth.”

The worldwide market continued to be driven by strong consumer PC growth. Mobile PC demand remained strong, while Vista’s impact on consumer demand is considered to have been minimal. Hewlett-Packard remained the No. 1 vendor based on PC shipments, accounting for 18.2 percent of worldwide shipments (see Table 1). HP grew faster than the worldwide market average growth rate for the ninth quarter in a row. HP showed steady growth across all regions and platforms.

Dell continued to struggle, as it experienced lower growth rates than the regional average across all regions. The major weakness continued to be derived from the consumer market. -0-

Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q07 (Thousands of Units)

Note: Data includes deskbased PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers.
Source: Gartner (July 2007)

After dropping to the fourth position last quarter, Lenovo retook the No. 3 position in the worldwide rankings from Acer in the second quarter. Lenovo significantly exceeded the worldwide average, showing stronger than regional growth across all regions except Japan.

Despite a year-over-year growth rate of 54.2 percent, Acer still fell to the fourth position. Acer’s growth was fueled by a strong performance in the U.S., coupled with strong growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

In the U.S. market, PC shipments totaled 15.7 million units in the second quarter of 2007, a 5.9 percent increase from the second quarter of 2006. Gartner had previously projected growth of 3.2 percent.

Dell held onto the No. 1 position in the U.S. market despite growing below the U.S. average growth rate in second quarter (see Table 2). “Dell had difficulties in its consumer business. Dell made its first major retail shipments to Wal-Mart stores, however volumes were not significant enough to influence its growth performance in the quarter,” Ms. Kitagawa said.

HP continued to grow much faster than the U.S. average. Gartner analysts said early results show this growth was mainly driven by both deskbased and mobile PC shipments. The company also showed consistent growth in deskbased PC as well.

Table 2
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q07 (Thousands of Units)

Note: Data includes deskbased PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers.
Source: Gartner (July 2007)

In EMEA, PC shipments totaled 18.6 million units in the second quarter, up 11.9 percent from the same period last year. Both the consumer and professional mobile PC markets showed strong growth. Central and Eastern Europe, and the Gulf region in the Middle East and Africa continued to lift the overall EMEA results.

PC shipments in Asia/Pacific totaled 17 million units, an 18.3 percent increase from a year ago. PC shipments in China grew 23.6 percent, driven by strong demand from the professional market. The economy is performing well and the strong domestic stock market has also stimulated PC demand from security companies, banks and other related financial services and telecommunications companies.

The Latin America PC market had PC shipments reach 5.2 million units, a 25 percent increase from the second quarter last year. A robust Latin America home market drove growth. Home PC shipments increased 32 percent in the quarter. This was ten percentage points ahead of the professional segment’s growth rate.

In Japan, PC shipments in the second quarter totaled 3.3 million units, a 4.6 percent decline from the same period last year. Analysts said both the professional and home markets are expected to post lower than expected results.

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. Additional research can be found on Gartner’s Computing Hardware section on Gartner’s Web site at http://www.gartner.com/it/products/research/asset_129157_2395.jsp.

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