PC sales faltered last year in the US. Some of the drop has been blamed on a parts supply interruption from Thailand factories hit by floods.
Industry research firm IDC said that shipments fell 4.9% to 71.3 million. US sales fell 6.7 %
Rival research firm Gartner said Q4 sales were down 5.9% in the US
“Continuously low consumer PC demand resulted in weak holiday PC shipments,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “While economic uncertainty in Western Europe had an effect on consumer PC shipments, expectations of a healthier economic outlook in North America could not stimulate consumer PC demand in that region. The healthy professional PC market as well as growth in emerging markets could not compensate for the weaknesses in mature markets, with overall growth still negative.”
Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) continued to be the No. 1 manufacturer worldwide with 17.2%. It was followed by China’s Lenovo at 13% and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) at 12.1%