Web DevelopmentAlthough HP took the number one slot for both Q3 and Q4 of 2006 in terms of worldwide PC shipments, for the overall year, the company tied for first with Dell.
According to preliminary results from Gartner, HP’s worldwide PC shipments increased 23.9 percent, with a total market share of 17.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006. Dell remained in the number two position in the quarter, but its shipments decreased 8.7 percent, resulting in its market share total of 13.9 percent.
PC unit shipments in the fourth quarter of 2006 grew 7.4 percent compared to a year ago. During the quarter, 67.3 million units were shipped. But Gartner analysts said the overall PC market was impacted by stiff competition from the consumer electronics industry and the upcoming Vista launch.
“PC price erosion was a defining feature of the quarter,” said principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa. “In the consumer market, the PC industry battled for wallet share against other consumer electronics products, such as games consoles and flat panel TVs, while at the same time cutting prices to ensure market demand did not stall prior to Microsoft’s Vista consumer launch in January.”
Overall in 2006, PC shipments totaled 239 million units, a 9.5 percent increase from 2005. Gartner found the Europe, Middle East and Africa region continued to be the largest PC region during the year though Asia/Pacific and Latin America also well exceeded the worldwide industry growth average. U.S. PC shipments were well below the worldwide average, showing clear evidence of market saturation, Gartner reported.
Dell and HP shared the number one position in 2006, as both vendors had worldwide PC shipment market share totals of 15.9 percent. Lenovo came in second, followed by Acer. Toshiba moved into the worldwide top 5 table, booting off Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens.