Gartner Dataquest Says Latin American PC Shipments Decreased 6 Percent in 2002
While Overall Market Declined, Dell Managed to Increase PC Shipments 51 Percent
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 20, 2003 - As enterprises and home consumers have cut back on IT hardware purchases, PC shipments in Latin America totaled 7 million units in 2002, a 5.7 percent decline from 2001, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). In 2001, Latin America PC shipments reached 7.4 million units.
Impacted by market uncertainties about it's merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard experienced a 31.4 percent decline in shipments in 2002, but it continued to have a large lead in the market. HP accounted for 16.5 percent of all PC shipments in the region (see Table 1). Dell experienced the strongest growth rate among top-tier vendors, as its shipments in 2002 increased 51 percent from 2001 results, ending the period as the No. 2 PC vendor in the region.
"With 43 percent of its total sales in Mexico, mostly in the professional segment, Dell clearly came ahead in the Latin America PC market," said Luis Anavitarte, vice president and research director for Gartner Dataquest's Latin America group. "Despite IBM's good regional PC performance, Dell has been able to successfully compete with IBM and HP on a regional scale, also leveraging from its strong worldwide position and the growing Latin American acceptance for the direct sales model."
Table 1
Latin America PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2002 (Units)
Company
2002
2002 Market
2001
2001 Market
Growth (%)
Shipments
Share (%)
Shipments
Share (%)
Hewlett-Packard
1,157,650
16.5
1,686,709
22.7
-31.4
Dell
468,126
6.7
309,981
4.1
51.0
IBM
461,331
6.6
425,427
5.7
8.4
Alaska
231,669
3.3
235,415
3.2
-1.6
Metron
189,879
2.7
183,822
2.5
3.3
Other Vendors
4,499,986
64.2
4,593,728
61.8
-2.0
Total Market
7,008,641
100.0
7,435,082
100.0
-5.7
Note: Table includes desk-based PCs and notebooks. Hewlett-Packard and Compaq are reported as one company. Source: Gartner Dataquest (February 2003)
While the overall PC industry declined in 2002, notebook sales actually increased in Latin America. Notebook shipments grew 3 percent in 2002. The market was driven by lower price points and its growing popularity in the consumer segment.
Brazil continues to be the No. 1 country for PC shipments in the region, as it had 44.2 percent of the market, but shipments in the country declined 5.3 percent in 2002. PC shipments in Mexico, the No. 2 country, increased 1.5 percent. Mexico's regional share was 26.9 percent.
Venezuela and Argentina experienced the strongest decline in shipments, as units declined 26.4 percent and 80.2 percent, respectively.
In a positive sign that governments may become large purchasers of PCs in the region, a partial shipment from HP as part of a large PC and Internet project with Empresas Publicas de Medellin in Colombia, helped PC shipments in Colombia grow 21.8 percent in 2002, making it the No. 3 country for PC shipments in the region.
"2002 was a difficult year for the PC industry in Latin America. It included the economic collapse of Argentina, monetary instability and political uncertainties in Brazil, a growing political and economic crisis in Venezuela and an unstable international scenario," Anavitarte said. "Mexico was instrumental in keeping the region in only a moderate decline."
This information is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. The group provides research on key aspects of the dynamic PC, server and printer hardware markets in Latin America. The focus is on regional and country issues in the top eight Latin American markets and the Rest of Latin America (ROLA) category, where Central American and Caribbean countries are grouped. To subscribe to this program, please call 408-468-8000.
Gartner Dataquest, a unit of Gartner, Inc., 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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