The PC market continued to expand at an impressive rate in the fourth quarter of 2005 with worldwide shipments increasing by more than 17% year on year, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Although shipments in North America were incrementally behind forecasts, international markets were able to pick up the slack to produce the third consecutive quarter of growth greater than 17%. Portable PC demand also remained a major driver that should contribute to revenue as well as shipment growth. Fourth quarter shipments of 61.1 million were up 17.1% boosting full year shipments to 208.6 million with growth of 16.4%. The figures were slightly ahead of November projections of 15.1% growth in Q4 and 15.8% for the year.
“Despite market concern for consumer spending, fourth quarter demand remained strong with most regions coming in ahead of expectations,” said Loren Loverde, director of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker in the press release. “Although growth has declined slightly from the second and third quarters, the market’s resilience in the face of rising interest rates, high fuel prices, a weaker Euro, and other potential inhibitors puts the market in a great position to start 2006.”
“The market continues a fundamental shift toward mobile computing that is contributing significantly to top-line growth,” said David Daoud, research manager Personal Computing and PC Tracker Programs in the release. “Portable PCs are expected to capture a record 38% of Client PC shipments in the United States this quarter, while incentive strategies for Desktops based on low prices alone may have reached their limits. Still, there were ample opportunities in the fourth quarter for vendors who offered desktops as home digital appliances, a trend we anticipate could reignite the desktop market in 2006 and 2007 with the launch of Microsoft Vista, Intel’s Viiv, and PC vendors’ expected endorsement of these initiatives.”
Regional Outlook
•United States – Demand for Portable PCs continued to drive solid growth in the U.S. market during the fourth quarter. Consumer demand remained strong despite competition from other electronics and concerns that hurricane damage as well as rising interest rates and fuel prices would reduce spending. In fact, demand for desktops was relatively slow as buyers preferred portable systems despite their higher cost.
•EMEA – The EMEA market turned in another outstanding performance during the final quarter of the year with strong retail sales and a particularly strong December. Portable adoption remained a key factor throughout the region while business investment also contributed significantly to growth within CEMA.
•Japan – Persistent consumer demand helped sustain momentum in the Japanese market. Overall growth declined slightly from the double-digit rates in the second and third quarters as expected but remained in high single-digits.
Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) – PC shipments in the APeJ region continued to expand at a rapid pace in the fourth quarter. A slowdown in commercial growth in India was only a small blemish on the region’s performance as steady growth in China and South Korea as well as strong portable adoption in many countries highlighted solid demand throughout the region.
Vendor Highlights
• Dell – Dell remained the top PC vendor and boosted its share of shipments to 17.2% from 16.8% a year ago with year-on-year growth of more than 20%. The company had strong growth across regions and form factors with particularly rapid growth in EMEA, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America driving overall international growth above 37% year on year and growth of more than 50% in worldwide Portable PC shipments.
• HP – HP also had a solid quarter with 15.7% of worldwide shipments and growth of 15.8% year on year. Growth in EMEA accelerated to almost 25% in 4Q05 from single-digits in the first quarter while operations in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) continued to expand at more than 30% year on year.
• Lenovo – Lenovo continues to gain momentum as it tunes its operations following the acquisition of IBM’s PC business. Worldwide shipment growth stabilized at nearly 13% vs. combined Lenovo and IBM PC shipments in the fourth quarter with growth of 30% in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) boosting the region to roughly 55% of shipments.
• Acer – Acer maintained growth of more than 50% for the third consecutive quarter with strong international gains and a growing presence in the Americas. Nevertheless, growth declined from prior quarters as competitors offered competitively priced systems.
• Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens – Another strong quarter in EMEA and improving growth in Japan helped build momentum for Fujitsu Seimens. The fourth quarter marked the fifth consecutive period that the company has improved year-on-year growth.
• Gateway – Gateway delivered a third quarter of healthy growth with gains in the United States helping worldwide volume keep pace with market growth. Although the 16% year-on-year increase declined notably from the high 20% range of recent quarters, this may reflect channel inventory management with new distribution partners.
• Apple – Apple continued to grow in double-digits, but growth slowed notably from recent quarters. The buzz over its media business continues to generate significant attention for Apple platforms and while the recent announcement of Intel based systems should contribute to interest in Apple’s systems, they may have contributed to slower growth in the fourth quarter.
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Fourth Quarter 2005 (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
Rank, Vendor – 4Q05 Shipments, 4Q05 Market Share
1. Dell – 10,539 , 17.2%
2. HP – 9,564, 15.7%
3. Lenovo – 4,414, 7.2%
4. Acer – 3,302, 5.4%
5. Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens – 2,535, 4.1%
Others – 30,745, 50.3%
All Vendors – 61,100, 100.0%
Notes:
Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
PCs include Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86 Servers.
PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
Data for Lenovo includes shipments for IBM PCD (including Desktop and Portable PCs and excluding x86 Servers and Personal Workstations) starting in 2Q05, and only Lenovo data for prior quarters. This reflects the legal status of the companies, which merged during the second quarter of 2005.
Source: IDC, January 18, 2006
Top 5 Vendors, U.S. PC Shipments, Fourth Quarter 2005 (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
Rank, Vendor – 4Q05 Shipments, 4Q05 Market Share
1. Dell – 5,741, 32.9%
2. HP – 3,545, 20.3%
3. Gateway (a) – 1,184, 6.8%
4. Lenovo – 711, 4.1%
5. Toshiba (b) – 635, 3.6%
Others – 5,639, 32.3%
All Vendors – 17,455, 100.0%
Notes:
(a) IDC estimates prior to Gateway’s financial earnings report.
(b) Toshiba U.S. shipments based on IDC estimates.
Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
PCs include Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86 Servers.
PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
Data for Lenovo includes shipments for IBM PCD (including Desktop and Portable PCs and excluding x86 Servers and Personal Workstations) starting in Q2 2005, and only Lenovo data for prior quarters. This reflects the legal status of the companies, which merged during the second quarter of 2005.
Source: IDC, January 18, 2006
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, 2005 Annual (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
Rank, Vendor – 2005 Shipments, 2005 Market Share
1. Dell – 37,732, 18.1%
2. HP – 32,525, 15.6%
3. Lenovo – 12,995, 6.2%
4. Acer – 9,803, 4.7%
5. Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens – 8,489, 4.1%
Others – 107,041, 51.3%
All Vendors – 208,586, 100.0%
Notes:
Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
PCs include Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86 Servers.
PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
Data for Lenovo includes shipments for IBM PCD (including Desktop and Portable PCs and excluding x86 Servers and Personal Workstations) starting in 2Q05, and only Lenovo data for prior quarters. This reflects the legal status of the companies, which merged during the second quarter of 2005.
Source: IDC, January 18, 2006
Top 5 Vendors, U.S. PC Shipments, 2005 Annual (Preliminary) (Units Shipments are in thousands)
Rank, Vendor – 2005 Shipments, 2005 Market Share
1. Dell – 21,466, 33.5% (11.2% growth 2004/2005)
2. HP – 12,452, 19.4% (7.3% growth 2004/2005)
3. Gateway (a) – 3,924, 6.1% (33.0% growth 2004/2005)
4. Apple – 2,554, 4.0% (32.0% growth 2004/2005)
5. Toshiba (b) – 2,260, 3.5% (21.4% growth 2004/2005)
6. Lenovo – 2,075, 3.2% (N/A growth 2004/2005)
Others – 19,357, 30.2% (-6.2% growth 2004/2005)
All Vendors, 64,089, 100.0% (10.0% growth 2004/2005)
Notes:
(a) IDC estimates prior to Gateway’s financial earnings report.
(b) Toshiba U.S. shipments based on IDC estimates.
Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
PCs include Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86 Servers.
PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
Data for Lenovo includes shipments for IBM PCD (including Desktop and Portable PCs and excluding x86 Servers and Personal Workstations) starting in Q2 2005, and only Lenovo data for prior quarters. This reflects the legal status of the companies, which merged during the second quarter of 2005.
Source: IDC, January 18, 2006
IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in 55 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis as well as price band and installed base data.
Full report with more stats here.
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If Everyone is growing, it will be harder for Apple to gain market share. They are outpacing others, but this is a race, and no one is sitting idle.
Good luck Apple!
Apple was #4 in US with 4% of the market. Sweet. I’m interested to see what will happen early this year with Mactel sales. I think there is a lot of confusion over whether buying a Mactel today makes sense. I suggested to someone today to buy a refurbished Mac mini because of the price.
I can’t recommend to anyone to buy a Wintel because there seems to be big driver compatibility questions. Once more iMacs ship I supposse those issues will be clarified. I’m also waiting for someone to hack XP to work on the Mactels. Once that happens, watchout!
Still, the best way to run Windows on a Mac is through a virtual machine. When a native one comes out that runs like VirtualPC, Apple adoption rates will be in the tripple digits. That is, if the distribution channels can keep up with demand.
Well, it doesn’t appear that the “Osbourne effect” hit Apple until very late in 2005. And now that the Intel based systems are already shipping, those numbers will probably increase dramatically during the first 6 months of this year. So much for the sales dropping like a rock.
Why is AAPL dropping? WHY? WHY? WHY?
Ohhhhh, my money . . .
[sobs]
This is the best news for Apple as far as I’m concerned. More marketshare means more developers which means more apps.
– Mark
Gateway has a larger increase in sales than Apple???
Gulp.
Dell sells about 10 times more computers than Apple?
And then one thinks that maybe Windows PCs are slow because people are waiting for Vista before they upgrade…
This incredible growth shows that MDN and others are wrong that Apple has failed to market the Mac. The use of a subtle strategy does not mean that there is no strategy, particularly when the subtle strategy is effective.
Not to worry – the stock will be up to $100 in the next 6 months.
Look at it in this way, even though quite a few people are delaying buying a mac because new models are coming out, Apple still sold more than ever before.
Once the MacBook Pro and iMacs hits full channel saturation, sales will be impressive. And that is not even accounting for any other intel mac products.
growth…
Dell=11.2%
Apple=32.0%
Dell – 21,466,000 computers
Apple – 2,554,000 computers
It still amazes how Apple has such a tiny share of the computer market. How long has Steve been back and he really has not bumped up market share at all.
Sure sales are increasing, but all computer sales are increasing. And worldwide Apple is way down in the other category. I wonder when and if Apple will ever move up much more.
Interesting that Dell sells 10 times as many computers as Apple, but yet Apple is worth more or about the same as Dell.
If it was the other way around Apple-ites would be screaming that Apple is undervalued.
Dell might sell a lot more, but its margins are razor-thin (and lately profits have failed to meet expectations).
Apple’s market cap is higher because it has more potential for growth in more areas, unlike Dell which only assembles generic PC boxes and adds no value (other than the sticker price).
Mac market share HAS increased significantly in the last two years–contrary to Veleeta’s comments–this just highlights how low it used to be. In the US, share has increased from about 2.0-2.5% to 4.0%. World share has increased as well, but “only” by about 50%. Apple is in good shape now that the MacIntels are starting to hit the market.
Jake