Dell Inc. Remains World's Top PC Seller

[Oblivion]

Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Down in Q3

Worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter of 2004 increased 9.7% from the same period last year, slightly below previous forecast expectations, according to Gartner?s recently released research. Gartner analysts said global shipments were impacted by slower sales in the US market. USA Leads PC Buys, Latin America Leads Market Growthb>

PC shipments in the US grew 5% in the third quarter, however analysts had expected shipments to increase more than 8% in the quarter. In the United States, PC shipments totaled 16.2 million units in the third quarter of 2004, a 5% increase from the third quarter of 2003. Gartner analysts said notebook sales were strong, but desktop demand was much weaker.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region also performed slightly below expectations. PC shipments totaled 14.3 million units, up 12.6% compared to a year ago. Analysts had expected shipments to grow 14%. Within EMEA, growth in Western and Eastern Europe slowed down while the Middle East and Africa region grew strongly.

In the Asia/Pacific region, India and Australia showed some of the strongest shipment increases with growth rates of 30 and 19%, respectively. Shipments in China grew 11%, however a major concern going forward is the impact of government control measures to prevent overheating of the Chinese economy, Gartner said.

PC shipments in Latin America grew 29% percent in the third quarter. The strong shipment increase is attributed to PC replacement demand, lower interest rates, flexible PC vendor purchasing programs, broadband deployment and better system specification/price point positioning.HP Pushes in Europe, but Dell Sustains Leadershipb>

On a vendor basis, Hewlett-Packard gained market share, but it under performed compared to its leading rivals. It faired better in distribution compared to the second quarter, however, it is still enduring dissatisfaction around its channel strategy. HP?s growth was in line with the industry average, allowing it to maintain its market share compared to a year ago. Regionally HP is coming under pressure in the US retail market as rivals compete more aggressively for shelf space, according to Gartner.

Dell and Fujitsu-Siemens outgrew the market and the combined share of the top 5 vendors continues to increase, heightening the prospect of market consolidation in the middle to lower tiers of the market. Dell extended its unit share lead both worldwide and in the US in the third quarter of 2004. Dell performed particularly well in Europe, with shipments increasing 36.7% compared to the same period last year.

X-Bit Labs