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| Gartner's Dataquest Says Developing Regions Lead Worldwide PC Industry to 18 Percent Growth in Second Quarter 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Jose, Calif., July 24, 2000 - The worldwide personal computer industry continues to be led by developing regions as PC shipments increased 18 percent during the second quarter of 2000, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Economic expansion in Japan, Asia/Pacific and Latin America continue to drive growth. Low PC penetration in emerging economies is also playing an important role. Preliminary regional results show the United States and Europe at the bottom of the worldwide growth table for a second consecutive quarter, with saturation continuing to be a significant challenge to future growth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturation in key segments of the U.S. market particularly presents a major challenge for the PC industry going forward. Vendors must find ways to persuade end-users to replace their PCs more frequently. Dataquest believes that the new generation of small form factor PCs will be instrumental in making this happen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We believe the combination of small form factor PCs and Windows 2000 will be very appealing to many corporate buyers since it provides a more stable platform with a lower total cost of ownership," said Charles Smulders, principal analyst for Dataquest's Personal Computers Worldwide program. "The uplift from Windows 2000, together with small form factor PCs, is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "There was further evidence this quarter of vendors increasingly differentiating themselves based upon geography, technology or end-user type. Vendors are looking to capitalize on more discrete market opportunities," said Mr. Smulders. "Examples include HP's focus on retail in the United States, Gateway's drive for out-of-the-box revenue, Dell's focus on driving server and notebook revenue in large accounts and IBM's withdrawal from U.S. retail." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HP and Dell experienced the strongest growth among top-tier vendors in the quarter (see Table 1 and Table 2). Despite single-digit growth, Compaq was the No. 1 vendor worldwide. Compaq's small form factor iPAC PC may buoy its growth in the second half of 2000. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table 1 Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q00 (Thousands of Units)
Note: Table includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs, and PC servers.
Source: Dataquest (July 2000) Saturation in the home market has also become a major issue in the U.S. market. To combat this slowdown, PC vendors are releasing variously designed PCs to help generate sales into that market. "PC vendors continue to experiment with color and new form factors in an attempt to keep the impersonal computer more personal," Mr. Smulders said. "This issue of color and new form factors is an important trend, but one that should be contemplated in the context of two design considerations. First, users at this stage are unlikely to sacrifice significant price/performance for looks. Second, in a related issue, final color decisions should be made as late as possible in the supply chain. Expect there to be several iterations before vendors begin to get it right." Dell was the No. 1 vendor in the United States because of its significant competitive advantage in terms of supply chain execution. In the small accounts market, the top-tier vendors continue to struggle against the value proposition of value-added resellers (VARs) and white box products.
Table 2
Note: Table includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs, and PC servers. Source: Dataquest (July 2000) The saturation in the market is evident in the growth rate of the market in the past quarters. Table 3 provides growth rates in the United States and worldwide markets since the first quarter of 1998.
Table 3
Note: The number includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and PC servers. Source: Dataquest (July 2000) |
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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 PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide
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 www.dataquest.com. Gartner'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. Gartner provides unrivaled thought leadership for more than 10,000 organizations, helping clients to achieve their business objectives through the intelligent and efficient use of technology. Additionally, Gartner helps technology companies identify and maximize technology market opportunities. Gartner's technology content and strong brand reach IT professionals globally through Gartner Research, its research and advisory unit, Gartner Services, its custom consulting unit; Gartner Events, including Gartner's renowned Symposia; and, at www.gartner.com. Gartner subsidiary TechRepublic, Inc. (www.techrepublic.com) is the leading online destination developed exclusively for IT professionals by IT professionals. Gartner, founded in 1979 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, achieved fiscal 1999 revenues of $734 million. Gartner's 3,600 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, are in more than 80 locations worldwide. For more information about Gartner's industry-leading products and services, please visit us on the Web at www.gartner.com. |
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