Worldwide PC shipments totalled 90,3-million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 4,9% decline from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to preliminary results by Gartner.
Analysts say the PC industry’s problems point to something beyond a weak economy.
“Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalising’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs,” says Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.
“Whereas as once we imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC.
“There will be some individuals who retain both, but we believe they will be exception and not the norm. Therefore, we hypothesise that buyers will not replace secondary PCs in the household, instead allowing them to age out and shifting consumption to a tablet.
“This transformation was triggered by the availability of compelling low-cost tablets in 2012, and will continue until the installed base of PCs declines to accommodate tablets as the primary consumption device,” Kitagawa says.
“On the positive side for vendors, the disenfranchised PCs are those with lighter configurations, which mean that we should see an increase in PC average selling prices (ASPs) as users replace machines used for richer applications, rather than for consumption.”
During the holiday season, consumers no longer viewed PCs as the number one gift item. Given a burgeoning variety of increasingly more attractive devices and services, consumers directed their attention elsewhere. Analysts say there was uptake of very low priced notebooks as a part of mega holiday deals, but this uptake did little to boost holiday PC sales.
The launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 did not have a significant impact on PC shipments in the fourth quarter. Analysts say some PC vendors offered somewhat lacklustre form factors in their Windows 8 offerings and missed the excitement of touch. New products are coming to market, and this could drive churn within the installed base.
HP regained the top position in worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012, however the company’s shipments did not grow compared to a year ago. Analysts say HP most likely gave up a certain margin level to gain market shares. HP was successful in managing large retail deals targeting Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch and holiday sales in selected regions.
Lenovo dropped to the number two position in the fourth quarter of 2012, but it experienced the best growth rate (8,2%) among the top five PC vendors worldwide.
Lenovo’s growth exceeded regional growth rates in North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific, but lower than the industry average in Latin America and Japan. In North America, Lenovo performed well by expanding in the retail market and protecting professional market.
PC shipments in EMEA totalled 28,1-million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 9,6% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2011. Western Europe remained the weak point across EMEA, as Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa saw growth quarter-on-quarter.
“The PC market continues to face many headwinds. The launch of Windows 8 had no impact on PC demand, especially as ultra-mobile products were both limited in supply, as well as being priced too high,” says Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
“The holiday season mostly saw retailers clearing Windows 7 notebook inventory or driving volume of low-end notebooks. Furthermore, the increasing choice of tablets at decreasing price points no doubt became a favourite Christmas present ahead of PCs.”
“In the fourth quarter of 2012, mobile PC shipments decreased 11% while desktop PC shipments declined 6% year-on-year,” says Isabelle Durand, principal research analyst at Gartner. “However, all-in-one form factor models from Asus, Lenovo and HP look like a promising platform for the future.”
HP retained the number one position in the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks to good results across all products in the professional PC segment. Dell performed weakly, losing nearly 2% share in the fourth quarter of 2012. Among the top five vendors, only Lenovo showed year-on-year growth and its strong performance in the quarter helped it displace Acer from the number two position.
In the second half of 2012, the EMEA PC market experienced two consecutive quarters of decline, resulting in overall shipments for 2012 declining 2,8% from 2011. Western Europe lost another 10% of volume, indicating likely structural changes to the market rather than weak demand.
Analysts say the PC industry’s problems point to something beyond a weak economy.
“Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalising’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs,” says Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.
“Whereas as once we imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC.
“There will be some individuals who retain both, but we believe they will be exception and not the norm. Therefore, we hypothesise that buyers will not replace secondary PCs in the household, instead allowing them to age out and shifting consumption to a tablet.
“This transformation was triggered by the availability of compelling low-cost tablets in 2012, and will continue until the installed base of PCs declines to accommodate tablets as the primary consumption device,” Kitagawa says.
“On the positive side for vendors, the disenfranchised PCs are those with lighter configurations, which mean that we should see an increase in PC average selling prices (ASPs) as users replace machines used for richer applications, rather than for consumption.”
During the holiday season, consumers no longer viewed PCs as the number one gift item. Given a burgeoning variety of increasingly more attractive devices and services, consumers directed their attention elsewhere. Analysts say there was uptake of very low priced notebooks as a part of mega holiday deals, but this uptake did little to boost holiday PC sales.
The launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 did not have a significant impact on PC shipments in the fourth quarter. Analysts say some PC vendors offered somewhat lacklustre form factors in their Windows 8 offerings and missed the excitement of touch. New products are coming to market, and this could drive churn within the installed base.
HP regained the top position in worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012, however the company’s shipments did not grow compared to a year ago. Analysts say HP most likely gave up a certain margin level to gain market shares. HP was successful in managing large retail deals targeting Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch and holiday sales in selected regions.
Lenovo dropped to the number two position in the fourth quarter of 2012, but it experienced the best growth rate (8,2%) among the top five PC vendors worldwide.
Lenovo’s growth exceeded regional growth rates in North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific, but lower than the industry average in Latin America and Japan. In North America, Lenovo performed well by expanding in the retail market and protecting professional market.
PC shipments in EMEA totalled 28,1-million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 9,6% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2011. Western Europe remained the weak point across EMEA, as Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa saw growth quarter-on-quarter.
“The PC market continues to face many headwinds. The launch of Windows 8 had no impact on PC demand, especially as ultra-mobile products were both limited in supply, as well as being priced too high,” says Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.
“The holiday season mostly saw retailers clearing Windows 7 notebook inventory or driving volume of low-end notebooks. Furthermore, the increasing choice of tablets at decreasing price points no doubt became a favourite Christmas present ahead of PCs.”
“In the fourth quarter of 2012, mobile PC shipments decreased 11% while desktop PC shipments declined 6% year-on-year,” says Isabelle Durand, principal research analyst at Gartner. “However, all-in-one form factor models from Asus, Lenovo and HP look like a promising platform for the future.”
HP retained the number one position in the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks to good results across all products in the professional PC segment. Dell performed weakly, losing nearly 2% share in the fourth quarter of 2012. Among the top five vendors, only Lenovo showed year-on-year growth and its strong performance in the quarter helped it displace Acer from the number two position.
In the second half of 2012, the EMEA PC market experienced two consecutive quarters of decline, resulting in overall shipments for 2012 declining 2,8% from 2011. Western Europe lost another 10% of volume, indicating likely structural changes to the market rather than weak demand.