On PC sales sans DELL
Drew:
Here is an interesting article on PC sales,thank god Dell is not playing with these guys.
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Online News, 12/22/98 04:30 PM)
Average PC price dips under $1,000
By Nancy Weil
Average prices for home PCs dipped below $1,000 last month as sales soared, according to a monthly analysis from PC Data Inc. Meanwhile, in the above-$1,000 category, Apple Computer Inc.'s IMac continued to dominate sales as the most-popular desktop PC model, PC Data found.
The Reston, Va.-based market researcher said it was the first time costs for consumers have dropped below the four-digit threshold for a computer without a monitor. Retail store unit sales of Windows-based PCs jumped 31.7% last month over figures for the same time period a year ago.
Because the research didn't take rebates into account, the real average cost of a consumer PC was probably even lower than the $992 identified by PC Data, which collected sales figures from U.S. retailers and major mail order sites, said Roger Lanctot, PC Data's director of research.
Just taking top-selling vendor Compaq Computer Corp.'s typical $100 rebate into account "would have a not inconsequential impact on every price per system," he said. Other vendors have similar rebates, and retail outlets also offer cash-back deals to buyers.
"And, of course, you have a whole bunch of people out there just sitting on the fence waiting for the after-Christmas sales," he said.
Shoppers waiting for next month's sales should be rewarded for their patience, because prices appear to be declining steadily, PC Data said. The average price dropped 7% from October's mark of $1,066. Compared with November a year earlier, the average price dipped by 26%.
Compaq led in retail PC sales overall, with a 27.3% share of units sold, a jump of 16.6% over last year. Packard Bell-NEC Inc. came in second with nearly 22% of retail unit sales, which accounted for its highest showing since November of last year. Hewlett-Packard Co. was third, with 19.9% of unit sales, and IBM finished the month fourth, with 11.8%.
In the under-$1,000 market, Packard Bell-NEC was on top with 36.3% of that market. Low-priced PCs accounted for more than 90% of the company's sales, PC Data found.
Prices have been driven lower by dropping processor costs. In the sub-$1,000 market, chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. continue to reign. AMD processors power 37% of PCs in that price category.
Although PCs costing less than $1,000 continue to draw consumers into stores, sales figures for Apple Computer Inc.'s pricier IMac machine continued to astound researchers and analysts.
"The IMac was the best selling single unit, with 7.1% of all unit sales, which is huge," Lanctot said.
Apple sold about 50,000 IMacs through retail and mail-order outlets in November. The Apple machine sells for about $1,226 and has been the top-selling PC each month since it debuted in August.
"In this business, that is really incredible," Lanctot said, adding that the November numbers suggest that December will be another good month for the IMac.
"You just can't keep Apple down," he said.
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