Worldwide personal computer sales fell 1.9 percent in the second quarter, the first decline in 15 years, as the slowing US economy is affecting other regions, Gartner Dataquest said Thursday.
Second-quarter shipments fell to 30.4 million units from 31 million a year ago, according to preliminary data from Dataquest.
US shipments fell 6.1 percent to 10.7 million units, from 11.4 million, the second consecutive quarter of falling sales.
"In the first quarter we saw a significant drop-off in consumer demand in the US and, in the second quarter, the corporate market slowed down as well," said Todd Kort, principal analyst with Dataquest.
Another research firm, International Data Corp, said worldwide shipments fell by 2 percent to 29.8 million units, primarily because slowing growth in Asia combined with the slumping US market. Second-quarter sales were flat in Japan as consumers and businesses cut back on purchases, and both China and India saw slower growth on cuts in government technology spending, IDC said in a release.
The US market is expected to decline further in the current quarter, said Kort, and a turnaround may not materialize until the fourth quarter, around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Earlier this year, Dataquest had anticipated the US market to start improving during the third quarter.
"We had a bad fourth quarter last year, so it's possible that we will surpass that this year," said Kort. "Also, consumers may wait till the fourth quarter to upgrade their PC so they can buy one with Microsoft Windows XP loaded on it." Microsoft Corp's new Windows operating system is supposed to start shipping by the fourth quarter.
Demand Businesses in the US have been stretching out the replacement cycle for their computers to cut cost during the current economic slowdown, and consumers have little incentive to spend on a new PC in spite of dropping prices.
"There is no particular demand to buy a new PC because there really is no reason to," said Mikako Kitagawa, an industry analyst with Dataquest. "Many people have bought a computer in the last few years and it's still too soon to start replacing these."
Dell Computer Corp, the No. 1 PC maker in terms of both worldwide and US shipments, was the only one among the major personal computer makers that sold more units during the second quarter than a year ago and increased its market share.
Globally, Dell's second-quarter shipments increased 20 percent to 4 million units, from 3.33 million a year ago, according to Dataquest. Dell's worldwide market share increased to 13 percent, from 11 percent. Dell's US shipments increased 15 percent to 2.53 million units, from 2.20 million. Its US market share rose to 24 percent, from 19 percent a year ago.
Compaq Computer Corp, the second-largest PC maker in terms of shipments, saw its worldwide shipments fall 14 percent to 3.40 million units, from 4 million a year ago. In the US, Compaq's second-quarter sales fell 17 percent to 1.38 million units, from 1.67 million units.
International Business Machines Corp and Hewlett Packard Co, the third and fourth-largest PC makers, respectively, in terms of global sales, also sold fewer personal computers in the second quarter compared to a year ago, both worldwide and in the US.
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