all, article:
Retail PC Sales Gain In December
(01/26/98; 11:10 a.m. EST)
By Roger C. Lanctot, Computer Retail Week
Retail PC revenue rose 5.8 percent in December
compared with December 1996 on the strength of a
30 percent gain in unit sales, according to audited
retail sales data from PC Data, based in Reston, Va. It
was the first positive month-to-month revenue
comparison since September, and came despite a $63
decline in average system prices, from $1,333 to
$1,270 in November.
Sub-$1,000 systems captured more than one-third of
retail system sales, up slightly from November, while
PCs in the $1,000 to $1,500 price range accounted
for 43.6 percent of retail unit volume. Compaq raked
in more than one-third of sub-$1,000 retail PC sales,
more than 28 percent of sales in the $1,000 to $1,500
range and 37.5 percent in the $1,500 to $2,000 price
range.
Packard Bell NEC accounted for one-fifth of
sub-$1,000 system sales, 22.6 percent of systems
priced at $1,000 to $1,500, and only 3.8 percent of
$1,500 to $2,000 systems, the lowest monthly share
in 1997 for the company in that price range.
Hewlett-Packard took in 16 percent of system sales in
the sub-$1,000 category, slightly more than 10
percent of systems sold in the $1,000 to $1,500 price
range and 37.6 percent of systems in the $1,500 to
$2,000 price range.
Overall, Compaq held onto the top spot with 30.2
percent of unit sales, followed by HP and Packard
Bell in a virtual tie for second place, with 15.8 percent
and 15.7 percent of unit volume, respectively. The
share of retail unit sales of PCs based on Advanced
Micro Devices processors was 15.8 percent, while
PCs based on Cyrix processors accounted for 2.9
percent of retail unit sales, down from a peak of 7.6
percent in March 1997. The average unit selling price
for AMD-based systems was $1,099, compared with
$1,321 for Intel and $778 for Cyrix-based PCs.
Systems based on Intel Pentium II processors
accounted for 20.8 percent of retail volume in
December, up from 16.7 percent in November. PCs
using MMX-enhanced Intel Pentium processors
represented 51 percent of retail unit sales, down from
54.4 percent in November. Systems based on AMD's
K6 processors garnered 14.1 percent of retail PCs
sold, up from 13.3 percent in November. |
