Worldwide PC sales drop for first time since 2002
Two reports of worldwide PC sales show extremely disappointing figures for the last quarter of 2008. In one report, the figures were actually down on the same period last year, the first time that’s happened in six years.
The more pessimistic report comes from IDC, which pegs worldwide sales at 77.3 million for the final three months. That’s down 0.4 per cent on the equivalent figures last year, and an even more notable 2.5 per cent drop on the previous quarter.
Given the final quarter includes Christmas, that’s a particularly a rapid fall which certainly gives the impression of economic problems biting fast. One caveat is that these figures are often worked out from shipments from manufacturers to stores rather than the number of people actually walking away with a computer. So the sudden drop may also be down to stores overestimating demand for PCs and not needing to restock as quickly during the holiday buying season.
Figures from Gartner Inc are slightly better with a reckoning of 78.1 million during the final quarter, a slight improvement on the previous year. The research firm did say US-only sales are down, partly because government and schools buyers have put purchases on hold.
The Gartner study also noted revenue will be much lower, perhaps as much as fifteen to twenty per cent, a drop bigger than any since 2001. Again, the economy likely played a role in those figures with stores dropping prices. However, the rising interest in netbooks, both among cash-strapped consumers in wealthier nations, and among buyers in developing nations with less demand for high-spec machines, also played a part.
With netbooks now making up 5% of all sales, there will have been a slight effect on revenues because a switch to netbooks inherently drops the average price of a PC. But Gartner believes there was more of a revenue effect through manufacturers cutting prices on traditional desktops and notebooks to deter buyers from making the switch.
Related Posts:
January 15th, 2009
2009 is not going to be pretty…