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Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 27 Percent in First Quarter of 2010

"The stronger-than-expected growth was led by a robust recovery in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) PC market, which grew 24.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "All other regions recorded double-digit growth rates, although the U.S. and Latin America were slightly lower than what we had expected."

"These first quarter results indicate that the professional PC market is gradually picking up, driven by PC replacements in mature markets," Ms. Kitagawa said. "With a relatively positive macroeconomic outlook, business demand was more forthcoming. Major PC replacement demand driven by Windows 7 will become more apparent in the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011."

HP continued to be the leader in worldwide PC shipments, but its growth was below the worldwide average in the first quarter of 2010 (see Table 1). HP faced continued pressure from its Asian rivals that are gaining share. However, HP's strength could be apparent as the professional market rebounds.

Acer had strong shipment growth across all regions. Acer's business model allows it to meet price points that other vendors find difficult to match. Dell achieved year-over- year growth above 20 percent for the first time in two years. Dell's growth was attributed to strong international sales.

Lenovo's PC shipments increased 59.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Lenovo's commitment to expand into the consumer segment seems to have brought positive results, although its high dependence on China's market remained unchanged. ASUS joined the worldwide top 5 ranking for the first time, sharing the position with Toshiba. ASUS had PC shipments increase 114.8 percent in the first quarter. The company quickly increased market share with its mini-notebook launch in 2008, but it has also successfully expanded into the traditional mobile PC market.

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 17.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 20.2 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. The U.S. market has registered two consecutive quarters of double-digit shipment growth.

"Although the first quarter is not typically a strong quarter for the consumer market, growth in the consumer segment was strong. We are expecting about 30 percent growth in the U.S. consumer PC market in the first quarter of 2010. The positive economic outlook and affordable system prices drove U.S. consumers to buy more PCs. These purchases either replaced aging PCs or became additions to buyers' households," Ms. Kitagawa said. "In the professional segment we are seeing gradual signs of improvement, and we are expecting about 10 percent growth in the professional market in the first quarter."

HP maintained the top position in the U.S. market, but its growth was below the market average (see Table 2). Dell retained the No. 2 position in the U.S. market, but continued to face challenges in the consumer market. Toshiba's shipments grew 50 percent in the U.S. market, as it became more competitive with pricing and promotions. Toshiba also did well in the value segment of notebooks. Apple created major attention with its media tablet, the iPad, which launched in April. The hype around the iPad added positive sentiment to the company's PC shipments. Early estimates showed that Apple grew 34 percent in the U.S. market.

In the first quarter of 2010, PC shipments in EMEA totaled 27.1 million units, a 24.8 percent increase from the first quarter last year. The first quarter volume was the biggest on record. The EMEA market was boosted by exceptional mobile consumer market demand, which continues to grow unabated. The professional market is starting to see some upside mainly coming from small businesses, rather than large businesses. However, the pipeline is positive with large tenders for major hardware refreshes coinciding with Windows 7 deployments.

In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments reached 26.5 million units, a 36.9 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. PC shipments in China grew 45.4 percent; this growth was led by consumer PC demand due to the Chinese New Year holidays, when promotions and students' winter holidays stimulated purchases, especially of mobile PCs.

The PC market in Latin America grew 35.4 percent, with shipments reaching 7.2 million units in the first quarter of 2010. Brazil has a large volume of local shipments because of high tariffs imposed on imported PCs. Consequently, growth in Latin America largely depends on these vendors.

In Japan, PC shipments totaled 4.3 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 14.7 percent increase from the same period last year. Two major growth drivers are the continuous demand in the education market and introductions of new products in the consumer market.

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.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

Gartner
Christy Pettey, 408-468-8312
christy.pettey@gartner.com