*from www.bloomberg.com, April 11, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: Personal-computer shipments plummeted in every region of the world in the first quarter.
Key Facts and Figures:
- PC shipments slumped as buyers opted for smartphones and tablet computers and Microsoft’s newest operating system met with weak demand.
- Global PC unit shipments fell 14% in the first quarter to 76.3 million, the worst decline on record.
- The 14% decline was a bigger drop than the 7.7% decline IDC had forecast.
- The slump was the steepest since IDC began tracking shipments in 1994.
- Every PC maker except for China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. experienced declines.
- The last time worldwide PC shipments experienced a double-digit percentage decline was in the third quarter of 2001.
- That was when the market was roiled by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the impact of a decline in technology stocks, said IDC analyst Jay Chou.
- Microsoft’s shares tumbled 5% to $28.77 at 11:31 a.m. in New York.
- Hewlett-Packard retreated 6.1% to $20.95.
- Intel Corp., whose chips run more than 80% of the world’s PCs, fell 2.3% to $21.76.
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), the biggest semiconductor maker, fell 2.7% to $2.54.
Take Away #2: Microsoft Corp.’s newest operating system, Windows 8 met with weak demand.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Businesses chose to install Microsoft’s Windows 7 on employees’ computers instead of the newer Windows 8, said IDC analyst Jay Chou.
- Consumers also shunned Windows 8 in favor of smartphones and tablets, which can handle many of the same tasks.
- “We don’t have a lot of reason to be optimistic that the market will remain in more than replacement-cycle mode,” said Chou.
Take Away #3: Consumers have found Windows 8 redesigned user interface disorienting, and prices for touch-screen enabled computers that run the software are still too high, Chou said.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Chou said Windows 8’s absence of the familiar “Start” button and the necessity for users to switch between desktop and tile modes are turning off potential buyers in stores.
- Microsoft introduced the latest version of Windows and a tablet called Surface in October to appeal to consumers increasingly adopting mobile devices.
- Surface sales have gotten off to a slow start.
- Fujitsu Ltd. has blamed the poor reception to Windows 8 for weak PC sales.
- Hewlett-Packard Co. Executive VP Todd Bradley said in January that sales of Windows 8 had a disappointing debut.
- Microsoft said that data reflects an “evolving and highly dynamic” PC market, where handheld computers perform like PCs and laptops can convert into tablets.
Take Away #4: Lenovo was the only top-five manufacturer that didn’t see a decline in worldwide or U.S. shipments, IDC said.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Shipments at Lenovo, the second-largest global PC supplier, were unchanged from the first quarter of 2012, giving it a current market share of 15%.
- Hewlett-Packard remained the No. 1 worldwide supplier with a market share of 16%, although unit shipments declined 24% from a year earlier.
- Dell Inc. was third with 12% of the market after shipments declined 11%.
- The severity of the declines at Hewlett-Packard and Dell stem from the companies’ protracted attempts to turn around their businesses, IDC said.
- Hewlett-Packard has been seeking to recover from years of strategy shifts, including an aborted plan to spin out its PC business.
- Dell is pursuing a plan to go private amid a worsening outlook for desktop and laptop sales.
- Gartner Inc. said PC shipments declined 11% in the first quarter to 79.2 million units.
- Quarterly shipments fell below 80 million machines for the first time since 2009, Gartner said.
- Both Gartner and IDC reported that PC shipments fell in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Take Away #5: In the U.S., Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Apple lead in market share.
Key Facts and Figures:
- In the U.S. Hewlett-Packard and Dell held the top two spots in market share, with 25% and 22% respectively.
- Apple Inc. was third with a 10% share.
- Lenovo, which was fifth with a 9% share of the U.S market, saw shipments climb 13%.
- Lenovo continues to outperform its traditional PC competition and there is still plenty of room to take share in this market,” wrote Lenovo spokesperson Brion Tingler.
- Apple’s market-leading iPad tablet and its iPhones are helping the company cope with slumping PC demand compared with other manufacturers.
- Apple is certainly better hedged against the decline of PCs than other vendors, said Chou.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.