Economies, Thailand take toll on industry

In spite of two previous quarters of gains, computer industry shipments slipped 1.4 percent in Q4 2011 to 92.2 million units, according to preliminary Gartner estimates. The research firm had been forecasting a 1 percent drop. "Continuously low consumer PC demand resulted in weak holiday PC shipments," analyst Mikako Kitagawa is quoted as saying. "While economic uncertainty in Western Europe had an effect on consumer PC shipments, expectations of a healthier economic outlook in North America could not stimulate consumer PC demand in that region. The healthy professional PC market as well as growth in emerging markets could not compensate for the weaknesses in mature markets, with overall growth still negative."

The industry is also said to have been hurt by October flooding in Thailand, which incapacitated a number of hard disk manufacturers, sending prices and scarcity rocketing. Gartner suggests, though, that the real impact will only be felt in in the first half of 2012, and possibly persist throughout the year. Lower shipments are anticipated as a temporary problem.

HP is said to have held its position as the top vendor in Q4 2011, managing 16 percent marketshare with approximately 14.7 million units. At the same time, though, the number represents a 16.2 percent drop versus the same quarter in 2010. Lenovo rose 23 percent to 12.9 million; Dell climbed 7.8 percent to 11.6 million, and ASUS grew 20.5 percent to 6.2 million. Acer joined HP in suffering a heavy blow, crashing 18.4 percent to 9.8 million.

Narrowing focus to the US market, computer shipments fell 5.9 percent year-over-year to 17.9 million, something attributed in part to smartphones and tablets. HP is said to have been the biggest loser, sliding 26.1 percent to 4.1 million units. Apple, by contrast, was the biggest gainer in the top five, rising 20.7 percent to just under 2.1 million. Lenovo actually jumped ahead 40 percent, but didn't ship enough systems to make the top five.

Combined EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) shipments were down 9.6 percent to 28.9 million, but the Asia-Pacific region grew 8.5 percent to 30.4 million, and Latin America was up 11.2 percent to 9.3 million. AP performance was actually lower than expected, owing to weaker results in China, India, and Thailand. Japan, ranked separately, is noted to have dipped 2.3 percent to 3.9 million, although Gartner had been forecasting an 8 percent hit.

A final tally of worldwide 2011 shipments puts HP down 3.5 percent to 60.6 million, Lenovo up 19.7 percent to 45.7 million, and Dell up 1.8 percent to 42.9 million. Acer lost 19.2 percent to sit at 39.4 million, whereas ASUS moved ahead 9.9 percent to 20.8 million. In all, about 352.8 million computers were shipped globally during the year, a modest 0.5 percent increase over 2010.

By Electronista Staff