Personal computer shipments declined 4.9 % in the fourth quarter of 2012, as compared to the corresponding quarter last year, according to new results by Gartner. The preliminary results by Gartner says that PC industry’s problems point to something beyond a weak economy.
What went wrong? “Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.
The change from PC era to the tablet era is happening because of low cost tablets, said the analyst. According to Gartner, the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 8 did not have a significant impact on PC shipments in the fourth quarter.
HP regains top position
Hewlett Packard, which had ceded its number 1 position to Chinese device maker Lenovo has regained its position as the number one PC maker in the world. However the company’s shipments did not grow compared to a year ago.
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2012 (Units)
| Company |
2012 Shipments |
2012 Market Share (%) |
2011 Shipments |
2011 Market Share (%) |
2012-2011 Growth (%) |
| HP |
56,508,218 |
16.0 |
60,553,740 |
16.6 |
-6.7 |
| Lenovo |
52,159,229 |
14.8 |
45,688,493 |
12.5 |
14.2 |
| Dell |
37,611,747 |
10.7 |
42,864,265 |
11.7 |
-12.3 |
| Acer Group |
36,661,066 |
10.4 |
39,282,791 |
10.8 |
-6.7 |
| ASUS |
24,206,696 |
6.9 |
20,678,302 |
5.7 |
17.1 |
| Others |
145,554,478 |
41.3 |
156,278,584 |
42.8 |
-6.9 |
| Total |
352,701,433 |
100.0 |
365,364,175 |
100.0 |
-3.5 |
Other key points
- Lenovo dropped to the No. 2 position in the fourth quarter of 2012, but it experienced the best growth rate. Lenovo’s growth exceeded regional growth rates in North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific, but lower than the industry average in Latin America and Japan.
- PC shipments in EMEA totaled 28.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 9.6 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2011.
- Asia/Pacific totaled 29.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 1.8 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2011.
- For the year, PC shipments were 352.7 million units, a 3.5 percent decline from 2011. HP retained the top spot in the global PC market, accounting for 16 percent of the market. Lenovo was the No. 2 vendor with 14.8 percent market share. Asus showed the strongest growth among the top five vendors, with shipments increasing 17.1 percent.
