shipments

Due to competition from tablets and other products, saturation in developed markets, and a sluggish first quarter, global shipments of PCs are now expected to rise by just 4.2 percent this year, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

The new forecast, released today, is down from IDC's prior estimate of 7.1 percent growth in shipments for 2011.

PC shipments among consumers and businesses enjoyed a robust period from 2005 to 2007. Even during 2008 and into 2009, consumer PC growth stayed strong at more than 21 percent while commercial PC growth actually declined by 10.… Read more

Demand for the iPad and other tablets has taken a certain toll on PC sales, thought it's mostly the lower-end Netbook market that has suffered, according to data released yesterday by IHS iSuppli.

Worldwide, PC shipments slipped to 81.3 million during the first quarter, a drop of only 0.3 percent from the 81.6 million shipped in the year-ago quarter. Looking at the top five global PC vendors, HP, Dell, and Acer all saw a decline in shipments from a year ago, while Lenovo and Toshiba watched their shipments rise.

Among the five, Acer took the biggest hit, with its shipments dropping by more than 20 percent from 2010's first quarter. IHS iSuppli attributed Acer's decline to its heavy focus on selling Netbook-style PCs, which it sees as the segment most directly affected by the demand for the iPad and other tablets.

"The increasing momentum of the media tablet market, led by the iPad, is creating a difficult environment for the PC industry," IHS analyst Matthew Wilkins said in a statement. "All the attention surrounding tablets contributed to weak consumer demand for PCs in the first quarter."

However, the analyst admits there's still uncertainty over exactly how much of an impact tablets are having on the PC market.… Read more

Hurt by demand for the iPad and other electronic gadgets, PC shipments around the world dropped by 1.1 percent in the first quarter, according to preliminary results out today from Gartner.

Global PC shipments fell to 84.25 million during the quarter, compared with 85.18 million a year ago, their first decline in six consecutive quarters. The drop surprised Gartner, which had been looking for a gain of 3 percent. Though PC sales typically slow during the first quarter, the numbers point to this as more than just an expected seasonal dip, in Gartner's opinion.

"Weak … Read more

Shipments of mobile PCs are expected to grow in 2011, albeit at a slightly slower rate than last year, according to a report from DisplaySearch released today.

Shipments of mobile PCs--which include tablets, "mini-notes," and notebook PCs--grew by 30 percent in 2010, according to the research firm. This year, the company expects worldwide shipments to reach 277.7 million units, representing a 27 percent gain year over year.

That DisplaySearch includes tablets in its mobile-PC forecasts, and thus, its growth tallies, has annoyed some who say that by doing so, Apple, the leader in the tablet space, is … Read more

Sony's PlayStation 2--yes, 2--has reached a milestone.

The company announced today that it had shipped 150 million units of the console as of January 31. That's since its launch in Japan in March 2000.

The PlayStation 2's longevity has been nothing short of astounding. Nearly 11 years after launch, the PlayStation 2 is still available for purchase for $99.99. The console trails far behind the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, and Sony's PlayStation 3 in total sales each month these days, but it still has a strong presence in the Middle East, South America, … Read more

Hewlett-Packard still reigns supreme in the PC market, but Apple has hurdled into the third spot, tied with Dell and just behind Acer, according to a report released today.

According to market researcher Canalys, the worldwide PC industry grew 19 percent year over year in the fourth quarter with a total of 105.8 million devices shipped.

The growth is impressive, but it should be noted that the figures Canalys released include tablets. The company calls the category "pads" in its report.

"Pads gave the market momentum in 2010, just as Netbooks did the year before," … Read more

Nintendo may be touting its Wii and DS sales, but the overall situation isn't actually looking so great for the game company.

According to its internal estimates for sales through 2010, Nintendo has sold more than 47 million DS units in the U.S. since the device's launch in late 2004. Nintendo boasted that the "tally makes Nintendo DS the nation's best-selling video game system of all time."

The company also revealed that it sold more than 7 million Wii units in the U.S. last year, making it the third-consecutive year the company has … Read more

PC shipments around the world should rise this year and next, according to the latest estimates from Gartner. But the forecast doesn't look as promising as it did a few months ago, largely due to the impact of the iPad and other tablets.

For 2010, computer shipments are expected to hit 352.4 million units, a 14.3 percent rise from 2009. But that estimate is down from Gartner's prior forecast in September in which it was eyeing growth of 17.9 percent for the year.

Continuing that trend, shipments should reach 409 million in 2011, a 15.… Read more

PC shipments in 2010 are likely to be healthy, but not quite as vigorous as earlier forecast, according to market researcher Gartner.

Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to hit 367.8 million this year, a nice jump from the 308.3 million shipped in 2009, according to a Gartner report released Tuesday.

The 19.2 percent gain comes courtesy of a rebound in the PC market over the first half of 2010.

But uncertainty in the U.S. and Western European economies could diminish results for the rest of the year. Gartner has trimmed its estimate for growth in second-half … Read more