“It’s looking like it may be a slow holiday season for PC Plus, an independent retailer in Austin, Texas, that sells Toshiba and Acer computers,” Jim Finkle reports for Reuters. “Weakening U.S. consumer confidence presents a challenge to PC Plus, along with larger companies such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. They’re struggling to pump up sales volume to compensate for sharp retail price declines.”
Finkle reports, “Besides struggling with falling prices and a weak economy, the two largest U.S. PC makers, Dell and HP, are fighting the iPod phenomenon. Demand for the market-leading digital music player has created a resurgence in sales of Apple’s Mac computers. In contrast to Austin’s PC Plus, Apple stores across the nation are often filled with shoppers. ‘People sort of walk in an Apple store to buy iPods and say ‘Hey, look at this other stuff,” says Matt Reise, assistant manager at Boston Mac dealer Computer Loft.”
“Apple may be poised to take a bigger bite out of Dell. Macs are posting their strongest growth in years, mostly driven by iPod sales. The company has two new models on store shelves — a tiny ‘nano’ version and one that plays video,” Finkle reports. “Apple computer shipments climbed an estimated 45 percent in the third quarter, based on units sold, beating the 17 percent industry average, according to research firm IDC. Dell shipments rose 12 percent, while HP’s were up 10 percent.”
Full article here.
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