Global computer sales growth below forecast: Gartner

Global personal-computer shipments rose less than forecast in the second quarter amid a sluggish economy, but Hewlett-Packard (HP) continued to be the worldwide leader followed by Dell, according to a new research report by technology research firm, Gartner.

Worldwide PC shipments surpassed 85.2 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 2.3 per cent increase from the same period last year, but below Gartner's earlier projection for 6.7 per cent growth, the research revealed.

"After strong growth in shipments of consumer PCs for four years, driven by strong demand for mini-notebooks and low-priced consumer notebooks, the market is shifting to modest, but steady growth, said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. ''The slow overall growth indicates that the PC market is still in a period of adjustment, which began in the second half of 2010."

"Vendor's performances have become variable as they have had to deal with significant inventory buildup, changes to their product mix, and the fact that growth has been coming mostly from emerging markets. Vendors are having to shift resources away from mature consumer markets. They are also invested in developing media tablets, many of which launched in the first half of 2011."

HP continued to be the worldwide leader, as it accounted for 17.5 per cent of worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter of 2011. The Palo Alto, California-based company achieved solid growth in the professional PC market, but it continued to face challenges in the consumer segment, said Gartner.

Dell moved into second place in the worldwide PC market for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2008. Dell did well in Asia/Pacific, where it has invested heavily lately as shipments increased 22.5 per cent.

Acer dropped from No. 2 to the No. 4 position in the worldwide PC market in the second quarter of 2011. Gartner said that it had a great deal of inventory in the distribution channel in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Acer's problems stemmed from its low-price, high-volume business model, which is no longer effective.

In the US, PC shipments totalled 16.9 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 5.6 per cent decline from the second quarter of 2010. The major inhibitor was clearly a weak consumer PC market.

"Given the hype around media tablets such as the iPad, retailers were very conservative in placing orders for PCs. Instead, they wanted to secure space for media tablets. Some PC vendors had to lower their inventory through promotions, while others slimmed their product lines at retailers," Kitagawa said.

"The professional PC sector was the bright spot in the U.S. market," Kitagawa said. "Due to budgetary constraints, the public sector had a slow start in the second quarter of 2011, even though the second quarter is typically a period of high PC sales."

Based on preliminary results, Apple showed the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors in the US, as it climbed from fifth place to third, overtaking Acer and Toshiba.

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 23 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 4.8 per cent decline from the second quarter of 2010. The consumer PC market in Western Europe remained weak, with consumer confidence weakened by continued economic problems in Southern Europe.

In Asia-Pacific, PC shipments reached 30.5 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 9.6 per cent increase from the same period last year. India showed weaker-than-expected consumer demand, while China's PC market grew 10.9 per cent year over year. China's growth was attributed to the release of pent-up demand for consumer PCs, Gartner said.

The PC market in Latin America grew 15 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, as shipments totaled 9.2 million units. Concerns over Brazil's overheating economy are abating with news that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2011 grew by 1.3 per cent.

PC shipments in Japan grew 5.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, with shipments reaching 3.9 million units. The biggest contributor to growth in the professional market in the second quarter of 2011 was a supply-side factor. Many of the shipments in the second quarter had been postponed from March due to the earthquake and tsunami.

Preliminary worldwide PC vendor unit shipment estimates for 2Q11 (Units)