Global computer shipments declined 6.5% in the first quarter
Gartner says U.S. declines not as steep due to strong mini-notebook PC shipments.
By Jim Carbone -- Purchasing, 4/16/2009 2:26:00 PM
Worldwide personal computer shipments declined 6.5% to 67.2 million units in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of last year, according to researcher Gartner Inc. First quarter shipments were also down from the fourth quarter of 2008 when 78.1 million PCs shipped.
However, in the U.S. shipments only declined 0.3% to 15.3 million in the first quarter. Computer shipments were stronger than expected thanks to strong growth in low-priced mobile mini-notebook PCs.
“Low priced mobile PCs led market growth in the U.S. Mini notebooks did well in the challenging economic environment where consumers’ number one priority was to save money,” says Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. She says the popularity of lower cost mini-notebooks is putting pressure on mobile PCs.
“This pressure was mainly felt in the consumer market, but it is expanding into select professional markets as well, including the education segment,” she says.
Gartner says the average U.S. mobile PC price will decline as much as 20% year-over-year in first quarter 2009. That’s good news for computer buyers but bad news for computer manufacturers. “We anticipate a sharp decline in industry revenues due to the lower prices of these devices,” says Kitagawa.
Also see: PC demand to drop 11.9% in 2009
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