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06 Mar 2009
The recession has finally caught up with the global PC market, due to a shortage of credit, according to analyst iSuppli.
For the fourth quarter of 2008 the PC market succumbed to economic reality, with shipments declining by 1.5 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
Global PC shipments amounted to 77.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 79.1 million in the third quarter.
Further reading
Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for computer platforms at iSuppli, said: “Although consumers around the world started to feel the full impact of the credit crisis in the third quarter of 2008, this phenomenon did not negatively impact PC sales.
“The sequential decline in shipments is a factor of the limited availability of credit, for both businesses and consumers. As a result, the money that is available must be used sparingly, leaving less for PC purchases.”
Wilkins added: “The impact of the credit crunch is clearly apparent in the PC shipments; given that the historical average for sequential fourth-quarter PC growth is in the region of 10 per cent.”
Due to the changing market conditions, iSuppli has revised its full-year 2009 unit growth forecast to 0.7 per cent, down from 4.3 per cent before.
“iSuppli expects an acceleration of the decline in the desktop segment in 2009, along with a reduction of the growth rate in the notebook segment, leading to weak growth for the year,” Wilkins said.
Despite lower than expected results for the Q4 PC market, full-year 2008 shipments grew by 11.6 per cent, reaching 299.4 million units, up from 268.4 million in 2007. This compares with 12.4 per cent growth in 2007.
The strong spike in shipments was driven by notebooks which generated a 35 per cent increase for 2008, up from 30 per cent in 2007.
In comparison desktop shipments declined by four per cent in 2008, compared with three per cent growth in 2007.
Wilkins said mobility is king in the PC market. “This is because the prices, features, performance, and convenience of mobile PCs are striking a chord with both consumer and business users," he said.
“The results in 2008 illustrate what is likely to happen for years to come; declining sales of desktops and rising volume for notebooks.”
The ranking of the top five PC vendors remained the same in Q408 compared with Q308, placing HP in pole position after shifting 14.5 million units and securing an 18.6 per cent share of the market.
Dell came in second with shipments of 10.3 million and market share of 13.2 per cent, while Acer nipped at Dell’s heels with 9.2 million units during the quarter and 11.8 per cent market share.
Lenovo and Toshiba ranked fourth and fifth, with market shares of 7.1 and 4.7 per cent, respectively.
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