World PC market growth remains 'flat' - Technology Times | Latest and Breaking Nigeria Tech News

Worldwide shipments of traditional PCs (desktop, notebook, and workstation) totaled 60.4 million units and recorded flat (0.0%) year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2018 (1Q18), a tech market survey shows. The results of the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker marks the third consecutive quarter where traditional PC shipment volume has hovered around flat growth year on year as it exceeds the earlier forecast of a 1.5% decline. The data seems to indicate a continued build up in commercial renewal activity as the main driver for the stabilizing trend even though the numbers are preliminary, according to IDC. Windows 10 systems business uptake appear to be constantly ongoing, benefitting commercially-focused PC OEMs such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. "Windows 10 systems business uptake appear to be constantly ongoing, benefitting commercially-focused PC OEMs such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo." The technology research company reckons that vendors can now retain better margins and garner buyer interest because of the demand for premium notebooks in both the consumer and commercial segments. There has also been slight improvement in pockets of the consumer space due to continued focus on gaming systems. Unlike the first quarter of 2017, pressures have loosened on both supply and pricing due to an improved supply of key notebook components, this has led to some recovery of share for the smaller vendors. From a geographic perspective, mature markets uniformly fared positively. The U.S. market saw modest growth after six quarters of year-on-year declines and Japan continued with its seventh consecutive quarter of growth, according to the result of the IDC survey. Emerging markets became more of a mixed bag as Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) shrank for the quarter while Latin America continued to recover positively against a tough 2017. According to Jay Chou, research manager with IDC’s Personal Computing Device Tracker, “the component shortage that initially impacted portions of 2017 led some vendors to stock up inventory to avoid expected component price hikes, and that led to some concerns of excess stock that would be hard to digest in subsequent quarters. “However, the market is continuing on a resilient path that should see modest commercial momentum through 2020." Neha Mahajan, senior research analyst, Devices & Displays, said that the year kicked off with optimism returning to the U.S. PC market, especially on the notebook side. Rise in commercial activity amidst a positive economic environment is expected to further strengthen demand, Mahajan says noting that “the retail platform too shows signs of stability especially with a fast-growing gaming community adding to the confidence." Highlights from the region show that USA market saw a promising opening quarter for the year with almost all major vendors reporting increases in notebook sales. Overall, total PC shipments for 1Q18 stood at 13.5 million units. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the traditional PC market showed stable growth for the quarter, benefiting from a positive performance across both product categories. Continued mobility adoption and increased customer awareness of the value proposition of more premium devices enabled notebooks to maintain a growth trajectory. On the other side, desktops posted strong results, driven by the growing gaming market as well as long-awaited commercial device refreshes in certain sub regions. The APeJ traditional PC market ended the quarter slightly short of expectations. India and Indonesia showed better than anticipated results, but the PC market in China performed below forecast with shipments weakened by a smaller number of promotions in the consumer segment and softer demand from the public sector. The Japan commercial market was a couple points below expectations due to slowing of the momentum seen in 4Q17, but it still maintained healthy growth in 1Q18. There was improvement in the consumer segment as it was slightly better than the previous quarter in terms of growth, but IDC believes shipments during the first three quarters of 2017 affected future demand, causing growth to decelerate in 4Q17 and after. Company highlights reveals that HP Inc. maintained a comfortable lead over all others in the market with its eighth consecutive quarter of overall growth (up 4.3% year on year) and growth in all regions except Latin America. Lenovo witnessed a flat quarter in 1Q18, the third consecutive quarter in which the company saw year-on-year volume stabilize with flat global growth and a slower pace of decline in the U.S. Dell Inc. posted the strongest year-on-year growth out of all the major companies, growing 6.4% and buoyed by strong performances in nearly every region. Acer held onto the fourth position. Its ongoing expansion into gaming and continued investments in Chromebooks have paid dividends for the company, but also caused some tough going in other arenas. Apple in the fifth position, finished the quarter with a year-on-year decline in shipments of 4.8%.

World PC market growth remains ‘flat’

Related Articles

APC: How party volunteer ‘hijacked Twitter handle’

Telecoms | Airtel-Glo race for Nigeria’s number two spot switches gear

Related Posts

Latest Articles

Most Read

Latest Videos

ABOUT TECHNOLOGY TIMES

CONTACT US

LEGAL & COMPLIANCE

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Add New Playlist