From "tomorrows" WSJ
PC Shipments Rise More Than 25%
Thanks to Web and Declining Prices
By DAVID P. HAMILTON
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
World-wide personal-computer shipments continued to roar ahead in the
second quarter, rising more than 25% from a year earlier, as ever-lower
prices and the lure of the Internet led to a boom in consumer purchases.
International Data Corp., a market-research concern in Framingham,
Mass., reported global PC shipments rose 27% to 25.6 million units from a
year earlier. Another market-research company, Gartner Group Inc.'s
Dataquest unit, reported similarly high growth of 26%. The two firms use
different methodologies, so their figures often differ slightly.
The robust growth, the highest in several quarters, partly reflects a
favorable comparison against the second quarter of 1998, when many
major PC makers throttled back on their inventories. Even so, the pace of
sales exceeded IDC's initial forecast of 21% growth, which IDC analyst
John Brown said was especially surprising given that the second quarter
tends to be the slowest period of the year.
"The majority of what we're seeing is that the
consumer market is out of control" thanks to
lower PC prices and renewed interest in the
Internet, Mr. Brown said. "We could be seeing
a very good year."
Many had worried that PC-sales growth would slow significantly this year,
given the year-2000 computer bug and high-profile problems earlier this
year at Compaq Computer Corp., which led to the ouster of Compaq's
chief executive. Profitability and revenue, in fact, remain under
significant pressure at many PC makers, especially given the recent
popularity of ultra-inexpensive PCs, priced in many cases under $600.
The latest data, however, suggest not only that PC buyers haven't slowed
their purchases, but that the biggest PC makers are still managing to
benefit the most. During the quarter, in fact, all five of the top PC
makers in the U.S. increased their market share, according to Dataquest.
The same held true world-wide except for NEC Corp. of Japan, which faces
continued competitive pressure in both Japan and the U.S., IDC said.
Compaq, for instance, shrugged off its lackluster first-quarter
performance and saw its shipments rise 32% against a year earlier.
Compaq not only held onto the No. 1 slot both world-wide and in the U.S.,
it increased its world-wide market share by 0.6 percentage point to
14.6%, IDC said.
But Compaq is in an increasingly competitive race with Dell Computer
Corp., whose more efficient model of shipping custom-built PCs directly
to businesses and consumers is the envy of the computer industry. Both
IDC and Dataquest figures put the two companies in a virtual dead heat in
the U.S. market, with Dell trailing Compaq by just a few tenths of a
percentage point in market share.
While Dell still trails Compaq by nearly four percentage points of market
share world-wide, its global shipments expanded more than 50% in the
quarter. "Clearly Dell continues to execute very well across most regions
[of the world], with Europe their only slow point," said Charles Smulders, a
Dataquest analyst.
International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., Nos. 3
and 4 in the world-wide rankings, also improved their market positions
according to both surveys. While still a fair way behind the top five
vendors, Apple Computer Inc. saw its recovery continue during the
quarter, as the once-struggling computer maker's global market share
rose to 3.6% in the quarter from 3.2% a year earlier, according to
Dataquest. |
