To: Ian Davidson who wrote (39064 ) 4/27/1998 9:07:00 AM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (1) | Respond to
Highlights of Q1 PC unit shipment report from IDC & DATAQUEST.1]Total worldwide PC sales grew 14% YOY. Despite well-publicized problems with bloated inventories and falling Asian revenues, as well as a seasonal sales drop-offs, PC sales exhibited strong growth for the first quarter of 1998, according to two marketing research firms. .........Driven by the top PC vendors, total PC sales for the first quarter of 1998 grew substantially from the same period last year, according to data from market research firms Dataquest and International Data Corporation. ................ Although HP didn't crack the top five in the U.S., on either list, "that's not for lack of significant growth," Hause said, and noted that HP racked up 69 percent growth this quarter compared to the same time last year. The data from this quarter indicates that the industry is growing at a fast enough pace to offset its difficulties. Although sales were impacted by the Asian currency crisis, European and American demand more than made up for sluggish Japanese revenues. "Western Europe is doing very well-almost surprisingly well," said Hause. "The combined markets is enough to offset the significant fall-off in Asia." "End user demand appears healthy," Hause said. "There was a lot of concern as inventory built up that the product wasn't moving. But that definitely is not the case, indicated by the success of [direct-model vendors] Dell and Gateway." .................
