GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says Dell Became No. 1 Vendor in U.S. PC Market in Third Quarter 1999
Compaq Maintains No.1 Ranking Worldwide;
PC Market Surpasses 20 Percent Growth
San Jose, Calif., October 25, 1999-The personal computer industry continues to post strong unit growth, as worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter of 1999 grew 23.2 percent over the third quarter of 1998, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT). The U.S. PC market grew 22.7 percent over the same period last year, as Dell Computer moved into the No.1 position. Dell's U.S. market share increased to 17.1 percent, and Compaq's U.S. market share reached 15.3 percent.
"Early indications suggest unit growth has remained strong in most regions, even when the inventory adjustments made by Compaq, IBM and Hewlett-Packard a year ago are taken into account," said Charles Smulders, principal analyst for Dataquest's Personal Computers Worldwide program. "On a worldwide basis, growth continues to be promoted by a combination of lower pricing, economic prosperity, the Internet, and latent demand in the Asia/Pacific region." Growth rates across the top five vendors varied considerably this quarter both worldwide and in the United States, but it was the direct vendors Dell and Gateway that topped the growth tables in each case (see Table 1 and Table 2).
Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for Third Quarter 1999
(Thousands of Units)
Company Q3/99 Shipments Q3/99 Market Share (%) Q3/98 Market Shipments Q3/98 Market Share (%) Growth (%)
Compaq 3,650 12.8 3,100 13.4 17.8
Dell 3,070 10.8 1,900 8.2 61.6
IBM 2,175 7.6 1,945 8.4 11.8
Hewlett-Packard 1,770 6.2 1,361 5.9 30
Gateway 1,240 4.3 888 3.8 39.6
Others 16,648 58.3 13,980 60.3 19.1
Total Market 28,553 100 23,174 100 23.2
Note: Tables are PCs only (desktop, deskside, notebook, ultraportable, laptop, and transportable). Server-marketed PCs are not included.
Source: Dataquest (October 1999)
"Dell reached a significant milestone in its history by for the first time replacing Compaq as the number one vendor in the U.S. market," said Mr. Smulders. "Slower growth rates from the traditionally indirect vendors Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and IBM point towards a renewed focus on profitability rather than market share at any cost. These companies still have considerable work to do to meet their supply chain efficiency goals across all products."
Table 2
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for Third Quarter 1999
(Thousands of Units)
Company Q3/99 Shipments Q3/99 Market Share (%) Q3/98 Market Shipments Q3/98 Market Share (%) Growth (%)
Dell 1,996 17.1 1,275 13.4 56.5
Compaq 1,780 15.3 1,426 15.0 24.9
Gateway 1,090 9.3 778 8.2 40.1
Hewlett-Packard 955 8.2 800 8.4 19.4
IBM 890 7.6 845 8.9 5.3
Others 4,955 42.5 4,385 46.1 13.0
Total Market 11,666 100.0 9,508 100.0 22.7
Note: Tables are PCs only (desktop, deskside, notebook, ultraportable, laptop, and transportable). Server-marketed PCs are not included.
Source: Dataquest (October 1999)
"The PC market environment in the third quarter of 1999 was notable for two reasons. First the market experienced significant DRAM price rises during the quarter. The effects were most clearly described by Dell, but will be felt by all PC vendors in terms of margin. Clearly a business environment where component prices rise does not fit the high velocity business model used in the PC industry," Mr. Smulders said.
"Second both Dell and Gateway continue to move to what Dataquest describes as a next generation PC economic model, where high inventory turns are simply an entry requirement and the focus becomes driving down the cost per sale as a percentage of the revenue achieved," said Mr. Smulders. "Gateway's AOL partnership is an example of a vendor moving towards this next generation model." These results are preliminary at this time. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Dataquest's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing, and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe. More information on this program is available on Dataquest's Web site at http://www.dataquest.com/dq/static/offer/programs/pqrgwwds19981130.html.
To subscribe to this program, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.dataquest.com.
GartnerGroup's Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry.
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CONTACT:
Tom McCall (408) 468-8312
tom.mccall@gartner.com