The PC market is taking a downward fall globally and according to a new Gartner survey, PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 13.6 million units in the third quarter of 2012, a 15.4 percent decline compared with the same period in 2011.
According to the report, mobile PC shipments declined 15.2 percent in the second quarter and desktop PC shipments went down by 15.7 percent. The professional and consumer PC markets declined 15.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
"We've witnessed a decline across all PC segments this quarter in Western Europe," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.
PC shipments decreased so low during June and July that vendors were trying to clear inventory from the previous quarter. The much-awaited Windows 8 launch made channel and retail partners too cautious to stocking too much inventory.
Although reporting a continuous loss of market share, Hewlett-Packard still retains the No. 1 position in the overall and professional PC segments. Acer came second and is closing in on HP. Acer retained the lead in the consumer PC market in Western Europe. Asus is at the third place as its "netbook" volume declined further and ultrabook uptake remained slow.
Western Europe: PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q12 (Thousands of Units)
Vendor | 3Q12 Shipments | 3Q12 Market Share (%) | 3Q11 Shipments | 3Q11 Market Share (%) | 3Q11-3Q12 Growth (%) |
HP | 2,622 | 19.3 | 3,371 | 21.0 | -22.2 |
Acer Group | 1,920 | 14.1 | 2,248 | 14.0 | -14.6 |
Asus | 1,460 | 10.7 | 1,567 | 9.8 | -6.8 |
Lenovo | 1,265 | 9.3 | 1,174 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
Dell | 1,204 | 8.9 | 1,452 | 9.0 | -17.1 |
Others | 5,124 | 37.7 | 6,250 | 38.9 | -17.9 |
Total | 13,595 | 100.0 | 16,062 | 100.0 | -15.4 |
Data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs. Media tablets are excluded
Source: Gartner (November 2012)
Being the only top-five vendor to exhibit growth in this quarter, Lenovo posted a second consecutive strong quarter and increased its share 2 percentage points in the Western European PC market.
Although the PC market is expected to return to growth, it is estimated that the market will never be at the level it was a few years ago. Generating growth by bringing out innovative products that can compete with the compelling new mobile devices is the greatest challenge for PC vendors.
