STAMFORD, CT – After two quarters of positive growth, worldwide PC shipments totaled 92.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, down 1.4% year-over-year, says Gartner. These figures were in line with Gartner’s earlier forecast of a 1% decline for the quarter.

Similarly, IDC said worldwide PC shipments totaled 92.7 million in the fourth quarter, down 0.2% year-over-year.

Hard-disk drive shortages triggered by the October floods in Thailand had a limited impact on fourth-quarter PC shipments and prices, according to Gartner. However, Gartner analysts said a major impact will be felt, and this is expected to materialize in the first half of 2012, and potentially continue throughout the year. These shortages will temporarily lower PC shipment growth during 2012.

IDC says shortages of hard disk drives added to challenges from slow economic conditions and competition from other consumer electronics, including media tablets, eReaders and mobile phones in the fourth quarter. Results reflected a year-over-year decline of 0.2% for the quarter and growth of 1.6% for the full year, the firm notes. This was in line with IDC projections of a 0.6% decline for the fourth quarter and 1.5% growth for all of 2011.

Despite supply chain constraints wrought by the flooding in Thailand, most regions slightly exceeded forecast, and most Tier 1 PC vendors had access to sufficient HDD supply, though smaller PC vendors and retail channels experienced drive shortages, according to IDC.

IDC expects the market to slow further in the first quarter of 2012, as the full impact of the HDD shortage is felt, and then recover to greater than 15% growth in the fourth quarter. Annual 2012 shipments are currently projected at 371 million, up 5.4%, followed by growth in high teens during the first half of 2013 and annual growth over 11%.

Ultrabooks were introduced during the fourth quarter, but didn’t draw much attention yet, says Gartner. However, based on the response at the International Consumer Electronics Show this week, 2012 could be a large debut for ultrabooks, the firm says.

HP retained its No. 1 position in the fourth quarter, despite a shipment decline of 16.2% year-over-year, says Gartner.

Although HP stepped back from the suggestion of spinning off its PC division, the move nevertheless affected buyers' confidence as reflected in their results, according to IDC. The company's shipments fell 16% year-over-year, says the firm, with some of the market share picked up by aggressive competitors, in particular Lenovo. However, with a new CEO and a refocus on business stabilization, the company may be able to recover its stride in coming quarters.

Lenovo experienced the strongest growth among the top five vendors, as its PC shipments grew 23% during the period, and it further cemented its place as the No. 2 vendor in global PC shipments, says Gartner. The company’s growth was attributed to aggressive pricing.

Lenovo’s volume reached 13 million, a record high, with growth over 36%, according to IDC. Lenovo has continued to develop its channel reach in markets outside of China, while also making inroads in EMEA through its recent acquisitions and reorganization, the firm says.

Dell had shipment growth in most regions during the quarter, says Gartner. While the consumer market remained a weak point, Dell enjoyed stable growth in the professional sector, driven by upgrades to Windows 7. Asia/Pacific continued to be the major growth market for Dell, as it achieved 30% growth in the region, says Gartner. Dell’s focus remains a pursuit of higher margin opportunities in other key markets, says IDC.

Asus stayed in the No. 5 position, despite generally weak consumer sales. Asus’s shift from mini-notebooks to regular notebooks was successful, as close to 80% of Asus mobile PC shipments were regular notebooks during the quarter, says Gartner. The firm racked up strong gains across all regions, and seems to have overcome the difficulties it saw in past quarters with clearing a backlog of Mini Notebooks, says IDC.

Acer continued to see volume slide as a result of its past reliance on mini notebook sales, says IDC. Consumer sales through retail channels remain constrained in the face of the pullback in consumer spending, but the vendor still managed to make gains in Asia/Pacific.

In the US, PC shipments totaled 17.9 million units, down 5.9% year-over-year, according to Gartner. Consumers’ attention was diverted toward other product categories, especially smartphones and media tablets. All-in-one desktop PCs drew consumers’ attention during the holiday season. The main attractions were large screen sizes and high-definition viewing capability.

The US market had its second worst year in history in 2011, dropping nearly 5% from 2010, according to IDC. 2011 was particularly affected by HDD supply constraints, weak demand, and a difficult competitive landscape. The fourth quarter's HDD supply shortage has had a notable effect on fourth-quarter shipments, the firm says.

HP maintained the No. 1 position in the US PC market in the fourth quarter, but Dell gained ground as HP lost substantial market share, says Gartner. Apple enjoyed the strongest growth among the top five vendors. Lenovo’s US PC shipments grew 40% year-over-year, but its shipment volume was not enough to squeeze into the top five ranking. (It was in the sixth position.)

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 28.9 million units, down 9.6% compared to the same period in 2010. The EMEA PC market experienced its fourth consecutive quarter of decline, resulting in year-end 2011 shipments decreasing 7.2% from 2010. Western Europe saw weak consumer growth, as an uneasy economic environment squeezed consumer spending on PCs, according to Gartner.

The EMEA PC market continued to contract for the fourth consecutive quarter, although the decline was not as strong as previously expected, says IDC. The market remained adversely impacted by the ongoing debt crisis in the Euro-zone, which led to more cautious business investments, while consumers' budget continued to be captured by media tablets and smartphones, particularly in Western Europe. Due to the sustained weakness in demand, the impact of the HDD shortage was moderate in the fourth quarter, and key players managed to secure the supplies they needed, says IDC.

In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments reached 30.4 million units, up 8.5% year-over-year, according to Gartner. The market performance was below Gartner’s anticipated growth of 10.6%. Preliminary findings show weaker shipment growth in China, India and Thailand.

Asia/Pacific maintained healthy demand, as most markets met expectations. China volume came in higher than expected, but other key markets cooled, says IDC.
The PC market in Latin America grew 11.2%, as shipments reached 9.3 million units. Because whitebox PC vendors make up a large portion of Latin America’s PC market, last quarter Gartner expected Thailand’s HDD shortage to moderately affect growth in Latin America in the near term. Thus far, anecdotal evidence indicates that many local vendors had quickly ordered sufficient inventory to exit the fourth quarter unaffected, according to the firm.

PC shipments in Japan declined 2.3%, as shipments totaled 3.9 million units, says Gartner. This was better than Gartner’s earlier projection of an 8% decline. The professional market showed a high double-digit decline, while the consumer market saw mid-single-digit growth.

Japan came in slightly better than expected, but the market still dipped 7% year-over-year for the fourth quarter and ended 2011 with fewer shipments than 2010, according to IDC. The slowing of Windows XP upgrades coupled with uncertainties wrought by slowing exports led to cutbacks across many segments.

For the year, worldwide PC shipments totaled 352.8 million units, up 0.5% from 2010. A weak consumer PC market, particularly in mature markets, was a major contributor to this stagnation, despite good growth in the professional market, says Gartner. Emerging markets grew steadily, driven by low initial PC penetration.

Among the top five PC vendors, Lenovo took over the No. 2 spot from Dell. Lenovo continued to gain market share via aggressive pricing and acquisitions, namely of NEC and Medion. Asus climbed from sixth to fifth, replacing Toshiba, says Gartner.

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