Rising consumer interest in media tablets like Apple Inc.'s
iPad is beginning to take a toll on the global PC market,
with shipments of desktops and notebooks in the first quarter
of 2011 declining compared to the same period in 2010, according
to new IHS iSuppli research.
IHS iSuppli shares below points on PC market impacted by
tablet computers:
1.Worldwide PC shipments amounted to 81.3 million units
in the first quarter of 2011, down 0.3 percent from 81.6
million during the first quarter of 2010. Three out of the
worlds top 5 PC makers suffered year-over-year declines
in shipments during the quarter. No. 3-ranked PC maker Acer,
which sells a high proportion of netbook-type PCs that face
a direct competitive threat from media tablets, bore the
brunt of the downturn, with its first-quarter shipments
plunging by 20.4 percent to 9.2 million units, down from
11.6 million during the same period in 2010.
2.The first-quarter decline came as somewhat of a surprise,
given that the fourth quarter represented the best period
ever for global PC sales as PC shipments hit a new quarterly
record, blowing past the previous high of 88.9 million units
set in the fourth quarter of 2009. Corporate demand had
been driving growth of the market.
3.Despite the first-quarter weakness, PC sales growth should
return later in the year. The current IHS iSuppli forecast
predicts the global PC market in 2011 will expand by 8 percent
to 373 million units, up from 345 million in 2010. This
compares to 14 percent growth in 2010.
4.Hewlett-Packard Co. continued its reign as the No.1 PC
vendor in the first quarter of 2011, with a market share
of 18.9 percent. The company suffered a 2.1 percent decline
in sales compared to the same time a year ago because of
the difficult conditions in the consumer market.
5.Dell continued to hold on the No. 2 position over third-ranked
Acer in the first quarter, with a market share of 12.9 percent.
6.Rounding out the Top 5 were Lenovo and Toshiba, which
coincidentally were the only Top 5 PC original equipment
manufacturers (OEM) to achieve growth in their total PC
shipments over those from the first quarter of 2010. Fourth-ranked
Lenovo and fifth-ranked Toshiba achieved market share positions
of 10.0 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.
"The increasing momentum of the media tablet market,
led by the iPad, is creating a difficult environment for
the PC industry," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst
for compute platforms research at IHS. "All the attention
surrounding tablets contributed to weak consumer demand
for PCs in the first quarter."
And although corporate PC demand was strong, it wasn't
enough to offset the decline in consumer sales.
"IHS believes that the jury is still out on exactly
how much tablets are cannibalizing PC sales," Wilkins
said. "However, the rising number of tablet models
on the market, along with certain high-profile product launches
during the first quarter, caused confusion among consumers
as to exactly how to view the tablet platform relative to
the PC platform. This contributed to the PC sales decline
in the first quarter."
