PC shipments in Western Europe totalled 14.8 million units in the third quarter of 2011, an 11.4 percent decline from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc.
“The inventory build-up that slowed growth in the last four quarters was mostly cleared during the third quarter of 2011; however, the PC industry continued to perform below normal seasonality,” said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner.
“The results in the third quarter of 2011 make unpleasant reading for the PC industry, as the third quarter is traditionally a strong consumer quarter, driven by back-to-school sales.”
The mobile-PC market was particularly hard hit with a 12.6 percent decline, driven by more than a 40 percent decrease in mini notebook shipments in the third quarter of 2011. Desktops declined 8.7 percent.
The market segment showing the greatest decline was in the consumer segment, which decreased 18.8 percent year-on-year. The much hoped-for uptake of professional PCs in the wake of the migration to Windows7 remained subdued by the pessimistic economic outlook. PC shipments in the professional segment declined 2.1 percent year-on-year.
HP retained its No. 1 position, managing the uncertainties around a possible spin–off of its PC division better than expected. Asus’s shipments increased sharply, with growth in notebooks across the consumer and small or midsize business (SMB) markets. As a result, ASUS moved above Dell to the No. 3 position, and Dell fell to No. 4. Acer’s continuing inventory problems opened up the channel for ASUS and other vendors to push their own shipments. Apple reached fifth place with 28 percent growth in mobile PCs. Apple experienced double-digit growth in both the consumer and professional space.
“The share of mini-notebooks continues to decline, which contributed to the weak year-on-year comparison. Moreover, the consumer PC markets in Western Europe remained essentially weak, with consumer confidence permanently shaken by the economic issues spreading across most of the region,” said Ms. Escherich.