Worldwide PC Shipments Returned to Growth in 3Q Oct 16, 2009

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The PC industry performed better than expected as worldwide PC shipments totalled 80.9 million units in 3Q 2009, a 0.5% increase from 3Q 2008, according to Gartner, Inc.

After three consecutive quarters of year-on-year shipment declines, PC shipments in the U.S. totaled 17.8 million units, a 3.9% increase from the third quarter of last year.

Dell maintained its No. 1 position in PC shipments in the U.S., however its shipments declined 8.9%in the quarter. Gartner said that the professional market continued to be very weak in the mobile and desk-based PC markets, with both segments seeing double-digit declines.

The mobile PC consumer market supported the Western Europe market, and the share of mini-notebooks increased as most vendors drove higher volumes. Mini-notebook shipments represented more than 20% of the total EMEA mobile PC market.

Acer again gained the No. 1 position from HP in 3Q2009. Dell showed one of the weakest performances this quarter, with a 17.6% decline year-on-year as its reliance on the weak professional market continued to hold it back.

PC shipments in Asia/Pacific registered 25.2 million units in 3Q 2009, a 16.1% increase from the 3Q 2008. This strong rebound was primarily attributed to the surge in PC shipments in China and emerging markets in South East Asia that registered strong double-digit growth rates. Gartner said that the PC market in China is estimated to have grown 28.5% in 3Q 2009.

In Latin America, PC shipments totaled 6.9 million units in 3Q2009, a decline of 3.9%, from the same period last year.

PC shipments in Japan totaled 3.2 million units in 3Q 2009, a 15.1% decline. Both the professional and consumer markets were weak. The consumer market declined 13.8% in the quarter, after nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth.

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