Worldwide PC shipments down

Global PC shipments fell by 0.3 per cent during the fourth quarter, according to figures from researcher IDC, confirming the bleak Christmas suffered by the desktop industry.

The number of PCs shipped during the past three months reached 36.7 million, a 0.3 per cent year-on-year decline, and a 3.6 per cent drop from the third quarter.

European markets fell well short of expectations for the period, but sales in Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, were only a few points shy of predictions.

IDC analyst Roger Kay said that fears about the slowing US economy clearly cut consumer demand in the latter part of the period, while a lack of compelling reasons to buy kept the business sector from making up the difference. The market is also suffering from slow migration to faster processors and to Microsoft's Windows Me.

According to IDC's forecast, consumer conservatism and a softening business segment significantly affected more mature regions like Europe and the US, while Asia and other emerging regions were more robust.

Worldwide, Compaq lead the pack with a 13 per cent market share, despite having the lowest growth of the top five vendors. Dell significantly outgrew the market with 30.9 per cent growth over last year, controlling two per cent of the market.

Hewlett Packard maintained its number three spot with a 18.5 per cent year-on-year growth, while shipments by IBM fell slightly to 7.3 per cent. Fujitsu Siemens remained fifth with a 5.1 per cent market share.