Worldwide PC shipments reached 71.9 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 16 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.
“Mobile PCs continued to lead unit growth across all regions as the average selling price (ASP) of mobile PCs declined sharply relative to desk-based PC ASPs,” said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s Client Computing Markets group, in the press release. “Economic uncertainties have hit PC revenues, resulting in steep ASP declines, especially in markets such as the United States and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. The industry could ultimately see a significant wave of consolidation if stronger vendors continue to press their pricing advantage.”
HP continued to maintain the No. 1 position with its worldwide PC shipment market share totaling 18.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008 (see Table 1). HP’s growth rate exceeded the industry average in the worldwide market, and its growth rate was little above the industry average in the U.S.
Dell had another strong quarter with worldwide PC shipments increasing 21.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008 and its market share reaching 15.6 percent. The company’s growth was fueled by its expansion into retail and other indirect channels. Preliminary results show Dell achieved over 40 percent year-over-year growth in mobile shipments for two consecutive quarters.
Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for Q208 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers. Source: Gartner (July 2008)
PC shipments in the United States reached 16.5 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 4.2 percent increase from the same period last year. U.S. PC shipments actually accelerated during the quarter, despite continuing U.S. economic woes. However, this acceleration appears to have been achieved at the expense of revenues as vendors appear to have cut prices in response to those woes.
“Home mobile PCs continue to have momentum in the U.S. market. However, ASP declines were greater here than in other segments. The retail space was a harsh pricing environment during the quarter,” Ms. Kitagawa said in the press release. “U.S. professional units look to have been affected by tightening IT budgets as U.S. business responded to growing economic uncertainty. Desk-based PCs gained traction among some professional users. Because desk-based PC deployment costs are still lower than that of mobile PCs, desk-based PCs provide a less expensive option for these buyers with tighter budgets.”
Several mini-notebook PCs were introduced in the U.S. market during the second quarter. However, this platform is still emerging and did not significantly contribute to overall shipment growth. Preliminary data shows the mini-notebook segment accounted for less than 3 percent of U.S. mobile PC shipments.
In the U.S. PC market, Dell continued to be the market leader with PC shipments accounting for 31.9 percent of the U.S. market in the second quarter of 2008 (see Table 2). HP’s growth rate was slightly ahead of the U.S. average, and it appears HP’s issues around inventory were resolved in the quarter. Apple’s PC shipments grew 38.1 percent in the quarter. The home PC segment continued to be the strongest driver for Apple, as well as sales into the education segment.
Table 2
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for Q208 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers. Acer data includes Gateway’s consumer shipments and Packard Bell shipments. Source: Gartner (July 2008)
PC shipments in EMEA reached 23.1 million units in the second quarter of 2008, a 23.5 percent increase from the same period last year. The strong shipment growth was linked to the decline in ASPs, especially in consumer mobile PCs. Some of the ASP declines are also an attempt by vendors to shift increasing inventory levels in retail channels. Shipment growth was strong across all countries, with the emerging markets of Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa still exhibiting the strongest increases. The strength of the mobile market continued; demand for notebooks remained very strong with growth over 40 percent.
In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments totaled 20.1 million units, up 18.1 percent from the second quarter of last year. In the professional market, there was not a significant slowdown in PC purchases as replacements and capital investments continued, benefiting multinational vendors such as HP, Dell and Lenovo. Mobile PC shipments grew 45.6 percent in the quarter.
PC shipments in Latin America grew 23.2 percent in the second quarter of 2008, as shipments in the region reached 7 million units. White boxes are gaining new momentum with support by AMD, Intel and Microsoft. Notebook PCs posted 55 percent growth in the quarter, while desk-based systems grew at an estimated 10 percent.
In Japan, PC shipments reached 3.6 million units, an 8.2 percent increase from the same period last year. Mobile PCs grew at a high single-digit to a low teen-digit rate, while desk-based PCs showed low single-digit growth. Replacement demand for commercial mobile PCs in large enterprises and sales of $500 mini-notebooks were two of the growth accelerators for the second quarter of 2008.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner’s PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe. Additional research can be found on Gartner’s Computing Hardware section on Gartner’s Web site at http://www.gartner.com/it/products/research/asset_129157_2395.jsp.
Source: Gartner, Inc.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “samir,” “Spark,” and “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
The U.S. market as a whole (without Mac) in Q208 grew from 14,810 to 15,094 or approximately, or 1.9176%. Mac grew from 1,011 to 1,397 or 38.1800%.
In other words: in Q208, Mac growth in the U.S. was more than twenty times (20x) as great as the rest of the U.S. PC market.
Soon, enough Mac users will be out there, armed with a decent amount of Apple Retail Stores close at hand, that they’ll be able to influence their tech-challenged family, friends, and neighbors enough to dissuade them from blindly running on over to Wal-Mart to inflict yet another dreadful Windows PC mess upon their ignorant selves. And then the Mac tsunami really hits.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MobileMe” for the heads up on the math.]
PWNG!
Here we go…good time to leave, Bill.
Enjoy, Fester.
Is this the fabled iPod/Touch/iPhone halo effect kicking in?
nice…
Still have that monopoly to deal with. If that didn’t exist, Mac would have double digits in the 20’s by now.
I am so glad to be a witness of this awakening.
Oh, blast! More absolutely phenomenal news from Apple, Inc. The stock will probably slide into the crapper tomorrow.
What’s apple’s market share in Japan, that was once a strong market for Apple
With nothing new or compelling on the Windows side for at least several years (if ever!), the coast is clear for a continued steady climb well beyond 10% in the next few years. Frankly I’m not sure I want Apple to experience anything like a “tsunami” of growth beyond the 30-40% annual growth they’ve shown in recent quarters. I’d rather they maintain a steady and predictable rate of growth that would help them maintain quality control, yet still attract the growing list of developers joining (or re-joining) the Mac scene. If they can be the first OS to effectively optimize for multiple cores, they could really be in great shape for quite some time.
MwAaaaaaaHAhaHAhaHAhaHahahahaha…
@ nekogami13
Buckle up.
@ Thorin
Durin only knows what one might awaken in the deep places of the world.
Very nice. Goodbye, Windows. The Dark Ages are over. The Golden Age is upon us.
I own a handful of shares.
if (AAPL>=205)
{
doofy.sellShares(“AAPL”,amountOfShares);
}
Hmmm…6.4% a year ago, to 8.5% this year. In about 9 months, Apple will reach that mythical 10% in the US. Very cool. Tipping point, here we come.
Sweet
I wish I could just be at my old job for one day. Just to laugh at all the PC Windows, Novel, OS2, Banyan engineers. Never realized how bad it was with PCs until a Novel engineer was with me when I popped in an ethernet card in a Mac IIcx, booted, installed the driver and had it on the network.
He asked, “Don’t you have to adjust the IRQ line, I/O address, or DMA channel?” I just looked at him and said what the hell are you talking about. It’s a Mac.
f**king pathetic. Get rid of the Apple tax already! Bring the price down for f**k sake! You have a great OS and hardware. There is no good f**king reason for Apple to keeps prices where they’re at right now. If one of you mindless morons says R&D;I’ll kill you.
I’m sick of this small market-share bullshit! Steve, you mediocre, spineless pus*y! You’ll be a nich player all your life.
PATHETIC!
I love being a minority. There is a certain sense of pleasure in being a minority. For me, besides Macs, its race, religion, type of care, hair style, etc. I’m always on the look out to join a new minority.
I don’t want Macs to grow past 10% of the market. Let the sheep majority continue suffer.
The majority is always wrong!!!
@ LA Punk:
Get a job you fugging puke, then you can afford good things in life.
Piss off.
Let’s see, L.A. Punk . . .
Your brilliant idea is for Apple to become more like Microsoft and Dell, thereby selling software and hardware as cheaply as humanly possibly, without ANY regard for quality and reliability.
WOW. What business school did YOU attend? Have you seen Microsoft and Dell’s stock prices lately? Have you seen Apple’s? Are you aware that Apple’ business practices since Steve returned have resulted in TRIPLING Dell’s market cap? That’s 300+% to you and anyone in Rio Linda.
I must agree with “Me In LA.” Get a job, improve your station, and join the ranks of those who can afford to own the very best.
“With nothing new or compelling on the Windows side for at least several years (if ever!), the coast is clear for a continued steady climb well beyond 10% in the next few years. “
The Mac is climbing precisely because it runs Windows. Almost every Mac in existence runs Windows one way or another. So while Apple may have barely kicked Acer to #4 in the US, Apple’s hardly eating into Microsoft’s share of anything.
“There is no good f**king reason for Apple to keeps prices where they’re at right now. If one of you mindless morons says R&D;I’ll kill you.”
Just that it pisses you off makes it all worth it.
@Boot Camp
Your drivel is pretty funny. Macs *can* run Windows, but that doesn’t mean they are. Every Mac in existence? There’s over 20 million PowerPC Macs in use right now, and they won’t run Windows natively.
@Boot Camp
Has anyone got solid numbers on the proportion of Macs that are actually used to run Windows via Boot Camp, VMware or Parallels (I’m happy with vmware, myself). I am certain your broader point is correct that the ability to do so is helping drive Mac hardware growth. But my point still stands that the stagnancy of the Windows world is what has increased the appeal of the Mac as a hardware/software choice, even if this is partly due to the capacity to run Windows for certain programs. As Apple/Mac marketshare rises toward 15%, it will be interesting to see if Windows-only developers who want to reach Mac OS users (a) begin developing for OS X or (b) count on Mac OS users to run Windows in some way. The latter strategy may work now but would seem risky as Apple marketshare increases.
It’s pretty simple really… The prices are the same. I would even argue that the Apple products are less expensive…
The difference is that with an Apple product you pay a higher initial buy in price and receive a product that is designed to work. The hardware is a bit better quality, the software is a bit better quality, and because it all comes from one place, it is designed to work with itself. Open the box, plug in the power, plug in the internet or hook up the wifi, and whammo, its done. Within 30 minutes of opening the box, you are actually using the computer. It’s so intuitive, you barely look at the instructions.
With a Windows box, you pay a cheap fee up front at initial buy in, which says “value” to your pocket book. But then you have to replace the monitor because it burns out. Or the video card because it doesn’t support a second display. Or the motherboard because the power supply crapped out and fried it. Then you finally have the hardware figured out, and you start trying to work with the software. Now you realize you don’t have any spyware or anti virus software, so you pony up for that too. Then you realize you need to write a letter or design a flyer for the picnic in two weeks, so you buy even more software. Then you try to install it, and realize that all the bloatware that came on the original hard drive is having conflicts with the new software, and half the drivers are missing. You can’t connect to the internet to download the new drivers because, well, one of those drivers is missing too. So, you call over some Geek Squad type and pay more money to clean off the bloatware and install the new anti spyware and anti virus software, as well as the productivity software. Of course, the first time he/she forgets to mention that the WiFi card you have has a chip that is incompatible with the wifi modem that the cable/telco installed for your broadband access.
Think I am exaggerating?
I paid $1200 for my current iMac about 2 years ago. I purchased Leopard and iWork 08, and Transmit. Beyond that, the darn thing just works.
Since then, several of my Windows based friends have been convinced to convert, and they are happily doing work. All the small stories above are based on their experiences with Windows machines (Dell, Sony, HP, Dell, Dell, HP and so forth).
So, for the record… I don’t think Apple should reduce their prices. I think the other vendors should stop dropping theirs. Then they should DEMAND a fully engineered OS from MS or whomever. And then they should start building machines to work and charge a reasonable price with a reasonable profit margin. This profit will go back into R&D;so they can keep improving their products. People are willing to pay for quality. If any company can prove this is true, Apple can. Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus might be other good examples.
Sounds pretty simple to me. It’s actually what HP is trying to do… but the trouble is they are still dealing with the chrome plated turd of MS Windows.
MDN Magic Word – view – as in: It all depends on your point of view. The view from the top is always clearer.
Seems that “beleaguered” Dell is making a nice little comeback.
iBook G4 14″ PowerPC, no Windows ever, blech! Would not contaminate my lovely Mac with that $#!+ware.