Global PC shipments hit 71.9 million in the second quarter of 2008, a 16 percent increase over the same time period in 2007, according to Gartner.
PC shipments in the United States reached 16.5 million in the second quarter, a 4.2 percent increase from 2007. PC shipments rose during the quarter, despite the sliding economy. This was due to vendors cutting prices on PCs due to economic conditions.
“Home mobile PCs continue to have momentum in the U.S. market. However, ASP declines were greater here than in other segments. The retail space was a harsh pricing environment during the quarter,” said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s Client Computing Markets group.
A number of mini-notebook PCs were introduced in the U.S. in the second quarter. Because the platform is still emerging it did contribute significantly to overall shipment growth. Preliminary data shows the mini-notebook segment accounted for less that 3 percent of U.S. mobile shipments.
In the U.S. PC market, Dell remained the market leader with PC shipments accounting for 31.9 percent of the U.S. market. HP trailed deal grabbing 25.3 percent of the market in the second quarter. Apple had 8.5 percent of the market and grew 38.1 percent.
Worldwide HP led with its PC shipment market totaling 18.1 percent, followed closely by Dell with 15.6 percent and Acer with 9.4 percent.
“Mobile PCs continued to lead unit growth across all regions as the average selling price (ASP) of mobile PCs declined sharply relative to desk-based PC ASPs,” said Kitagawa. “Economic uncertainties have hit PC revenues, resulting in steep ASP declines, especially in markets such as the United States and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.”
