John,
re: "That said, Dell starting to look like HPQ back when it was beaten up, low P/S and big cash position, although I suppose that will go down if they execute the stock buyback in a major way this year...."
Dell Pulls Away From H-P In US Sales; No Softness Seen
January 16, 2008: 05:36 PM EST
By Ben Charny
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Dell Inc.'s (DELL) leading share of U.S. personal- computer sales jumped during the last three months of 2007, even while Hewlett- Packard Inc. (HPQ) was hitting a two-year U.S. market-share high, according to new data released Wednesday.
Meanwhile, worldwide sales of personal computers grew a healthy 15.5% in the quarter, according to IDC, while Gartner data available Wednesday suggested it was a more modest 13.4% gain. Overall, there were no signs of weakness from a souring U.S. economy, the data also showed.
Dell, the No. 1 seller of computers in the U.S., does most of its business there. According to Gartner, Dell achieved shipments growth at the tail end of 2007 for the first time in last five quarters, helping Dell creep closer to its two-year-ago high of 33% share.
No. 2 U.S. seller H-P, however, continues to make gains. On Wednesday, Gartner suggested its U.S. share grew by a half percentage point. As relatively small as the gains may be, they are notable, given that H-P considers the U.S. market secondary to sales in other countries.
In the U.S., Dell and H-P both benefited largely from making their products available at more retail outlets, according to IDC Research Manager David Daoud.
"The competition between the two is getting fiercer, though," Daoud said. "The real losers here are the smaller companies."
Dell shipped 29.6% of all computers destined for the U.S. between September and December, a substantial jump from 28% a year ago, according to IDC. Gartner's data had Dell with a 31.4% share.
IDC said H-P shipped 24.3% of all the U.S.-bound computers during the same timeframe, or about 8% more than a quarter earlier. Yet, it could gain only two- tenths of a percentage point in market share, according to IDC. Gartner's data suggested an equally small U.S. market-share gain for H-P.
U.S. No. 3 Acer Inc. (2353.TW) was the biggest gainer of the top five, nearly tripling fourth-quarter sales and gaining more than two percentage points of market share, on higher laptop sales, according to IDC.
Overall, both sets of data showed no softening in U.S. personal-computer sales from September through December, even as the economy weakened into one now striking fears of recession and higher inflation.
IDC still expects U.S. personal-computer sales to grow by 8% this year in the U.S., but with some reservations.
Last year "showed a clear indication of the worldwide PC market landscape: strong growth in emerging regions such as Asia/Pacific and slower growth in markets such as the United States," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner's computing group.
On a worldwide basis, 271.2 million computers were shipped last year, or 13.4% more than the year before, as a result of manufacturers finding more retail partners, plus surprising growth in Japan and South America, according to Gartner. IDC suggested a modestly higher growth rate.
Worldwide, H-P was No. 1 overall, with 50 million computers shipped; Dell was No. 2 with 40 million; and Acer third, with 21.2 million, according to IDC. Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK) was fourth, with 20.2 million.
In recent late trading Dell's shares were down to $20.66 from the Wednesday close of $20.68 while H-P was up to $44.72 after hours from the close of $44.34.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com |
