With its strong retail presence and holiday promotions, HP was able to sustain growth for the quarter at more than 21% year-on-year, capturing the top spot in worldwide shipments from Dell for the first time in a year. For its part, Dell sustained growth of nearly 20% year-on-year, achieving record volumes in all regions and consolidating its market lead on an annual basis.
“We continued to see solid growth following seasonal trends”
"We continued to see solid growth following seasonal trends," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. "Caution in the commercial market has begun to dissipate, even as companies keep tight control on spending. Meanwhile, pricing remains cutthroat, supporting unit growth but reducing profits."
"It was a good finish to a great year," said Roger Kay, vice president of client computing at IDC. "Price attracted buyers at holiday time, and vendors like eMachines and HP benefited from consumer activity in retail. Although the majors took in the richest harvest, even non-branded vendors managed to grow share. IBM's performance was reflective of a recovering enterprise sector."
Regional Outlook
-- United States - Continued consumer demand and a strong retail performance sustained growth in the high teens while commercial spending picked up discernibly. Holiday promotions helped boost growth for the quarter, but spending is expected to remain conservative in 2004.
-- EMEA - The fiscal year end, combined with continued notebook adoption and strong holiday spending by consumers, boosted growth in EMEA to nearly 19%. The strong Euro also helped support demand in the second half of 2003.
-- Japan - As expected, growth in Japan slowed to single digits as consumer interest shifted to other products following adoption of a new electronics recycling law. Growth should accelerate going into 2004 as commercial spending picks up with the end of the Japanese fiscal year.
-- A/P - The Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) market came in slightly short of expectations. The Korean market continued to struggle and notebook demand in India and China was slightly softer than originally anticipated. Despite this, overall notebook growth remained strong, supporting total PC market growth of roughly 14% for the year.
Vendor Highlights
-- Dell - Sustained its momentum with aggressive pricing and an expanding consumer focus, although its lack of presence in retail cost it in market share.
-- HP - Benefiting from its retail position and strong consumer demand over the holidays, HP sustained growth at more than 21% year-on-year capturing the top spot in worldwide shipments for the quarter.
-- IBM - Despite smaller consumer participation IBM sustained growth of more than 17% with portables share rising to nearly 50% of client shipments and growing commercial activity responding to IBM's TCO messaging and boosting overall growth.
-- Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens - Slower growth in Japan and Western Europe limited Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens growth, although portables growth and greater focus on the channel have helped sustain volumes.
-- Toshiba - Remains in the Top 5 worldwide on the strength of its portables.
-- eMachines - The company's renewed focus and aggressive pricing have moved eMachines back into the Top 5 in the U.S. Expanding outside of the U.S. consumer market while maintaining its aggressive pricing should position the company well going forward.
-- Gateway - Shipments continued to fall precipitously as the company transforms its business model in the face of aggressive PC pricing with competition minimizing relief from holiday consumer demand.
-- Apple - Product refreshes in the fourth quarter helped lift growth to double digits, but missed Apple's key third quarter client base and shipments were down a hair annually.
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Fourth Quarter 2003
(Preliminary)
(Units Shipments are in thousands)
Q4 2003 Q4 2003 Market Q4 2002 Market Growth
Rank Vendor Shipments Share Shipments Share 2003/2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 HP 7,520 16.9% 6,192 16.0% 21.4%
2 Dell 7,242 16.3% 6,050 15.6% 19.7%
3 IBM(a) 2,663 6.0% 2,263 5.9% 17.7%
Fujitsu/Fujitsu
4 Siemens 1,897 4.3% 1,650 4.3% 15.0%
5 Toshiba 1,416 3.2% 1,150 3.0% 23.2%
Others 23,815 53.5% 21,356 55.2% 11.5%
All Vendors 44,553 100.0% 38,661 100.0% 15.2%
Notes:
-- (a) IDC estimates prior to IBM financial earnings reports.
-- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end
users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under
which they are sold.
-- PCs includes Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86
Servers.
-- PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are
reported for calendar periods.
Source: IDC, January 14, 2004
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, 2003 (Preliminary)
(Units Shipments are in thousands)
2003 2003 Market 2002 Market Growth
Rank Vendor Shipments Share Shipments Share 2003/2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Dell 25,833 16.9% 20,675 15.1% 25.0%
2 HP 25,009 16.4% 21,844 16.0% 14.5%
3 IBM(b) 9,000 5.9% 8,020 5.9% 12.2%
Fujitsu/Fujitsu
4 Siemens 6,375 4.2% 5,818 4.2% 9.6%
5 Toshiba 5,080 3.3% 4,348 3.2% 16.8%
Others 81,271 53.3% 76,208 55.7% 6.6%
All Vendors 152,568 100.0% 136,913 100.0% 11.4%
Notes:
-- (b) IDC estimates prior to IBM financial earnings reports.
-- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end
users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under
which they are sold.
-- PCs includes Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86
Servers.
-- PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are
reported for calendar periods.
Source: IDC, January 14, 2004
Top 5 Vendors, U.S. PC Shipments, Fourth Quarter 2003
(Preliminary)
(Units Shipments are in thousands)
Q4 2003 Q4 2003 Market Q4 2002 Market Growth
Rank Vendor Shipments Share Shipments Share 2003/2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Dell 4,413 30.2% 3,778 29.9% 16.8%
2 HP 3,173 21.7% 2,672 21.1% 18.8%
3 IBM(c) 781 5.4% 653 5.2% 19.6%
4 eMachines 498 3.4% 412 3.3% 20.8%
5 Gateway(c) 492 3.4% 700 5.5% -29.7%
Others 5,241 35.9% 4,439 35.1% 18.1%
All Vendors 14,598 100.0% 12,653 100.0% 15.4%
Notes:
-- (c) IDC estimates prior to Gateway and IBM financial earnings
reports.
-- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end
users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under
which they are sold.
-- PCs includes Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86
Servers.
-- PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are
reported for calendar periods.
Source: IDC, January 14, 2004
Top 5 Vendors, U.S. PC Shipments, 2003 (Preliminary)
(Units Shipments are in thousands)
2003 2003 Market 2002 Market Growth
Rank Vendor Shipments Share Shipments Share 2003/2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Dell 16,319 30.9% 13,326 28.0% 22.5%
2 HP 10,851 20.6% 9,292 19.5% 16.8%
3 IBM(d) 2,748 5.2% 2,541 5.3% 8.1%
4 Gateway(d) 1,987 3.8% 2,725 5.7% -27.1%
5 Apple 1,675 3.2% 1,679 3.5% -0.2%
Others 19,158 36.3% 18,030 37.9% 6.3%
All Vendors 52,739 100.0% 47,592 100.0% 10.8%
Notes:
-- (d) IDC estimates prior to Gateway and IBM financial earnings
reports.
-- Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end
users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under
which they are sold.
-- PCs includes Desktop, Notebook, Ultra Portable, and x86
Servers.
-- PCs do not include handhelds. Data for all vendors are
reported for calendar periods.
Source: IDC, January 14, 2004
IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker gathers PC market data in 55 countries by vendor, form factor, brand, processor brand and speed, sales channel and user segment. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis as well as price band and installed base data.
For more information, or to subscribe to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, please contact Kathy Nagamine at 650-962-6423 or knagamine@idc.com. You may also contact IDC's sales hotline at 508-988-7988 or email sales@idc.com.
About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.
IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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