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PC shipments improve
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January 17, 2002: 5:29 p.m. ET
IDC report says a rush of holiday buying helped buoy the industry.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A rush of buying during the holiday season led to a better-than-expected fourth quarter for PC makers, but shipments still were off nearly 7 percent from the same quarter in 2000, according to an industry report.
And as all its counterparts in the industry posted declines in shipments, Dell Computer stood out from the pack, logging increases in the U.S. and worldwide, the report says.
According to figures released Thursday by technology research firm International Data Corp., PC vendors shipped 34.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2001. That's down 6.8 percent from 36.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2000.
"Hard times persist in the PC market, but vendors are working diligently to stimulate growth and the outlook has started to improve in the United States and Europe," said IDC analyst Loren Loverde.
"We don't expect a rapid turnaround, but the seeds of recovery are being sown," Loverde said.
Although lower than the year-ago period, fourth-quarter unit shipments of PCs reflect a 16.9 percent increase over the third quarter, according to IDC's data.
The firm pointed out that since the slowdown in the PC industry began in the fourth quarter of 2000, the year-over-year comparison was much easier.
IDC said the healthy sequential growth provides a better indicator of the market's performance, as it is only slightly behind the average fourth-quarter sequential growth rate of 19.8 percent which the industry logged from 1995 through 2000.
Despite some improvements in the overall market, IDC said the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan was the only region to sustain shipment growth from a year ago.
While shipments in the U.S. continued to decline year on year, falling 10.1 percent, IDC said that was above its expectations. Further, the firm said U.S. shipments rose 6.1 percent from the third quarter, largely fueled by consumer holiday buying.
"After four quarters of subdued buying, consumers in the United States ended the year with a burst of activity, particularly in retail," said analyst Roger Kay.
The surge helped alleviate a supply glut in the retail channel as vendors, chastened by previous inventory excesses, throttled back their orders and suddenly found themselves scrambling for supply, IDC said.
The Japanese market continued to suffer from a deteriorating economy, with double-digit declines projected for the next few quarters. Meanwhile, the market in Europe remained soft, with continued weakness in the corporate segment, IDC said.
From a vendor standpoint, IDC's data show Dell (DELL: up $1.38 to $28.95, Research, Estimates) continued to gain share, expanding its segment coverage and leveraging its direct business model to keep the pressure on its competitors. Dell was the only one of the top five vendors to grow shipments in the United States and worldwide year on year.
By IDC's count, Dell's fourth-quarter unit shipments rose 11.4 percent in the U.S. and 13.5 percent worldwide.
Hewlett-Packard (HWP: up $1.11 to $23.53, Research, Estimates) logged a 7.8 percent decline in year-over-year PC shipments worldwide, and a 13.4 percent decline in the U.S.
Compaq (CPQ: up $0.70 to $11.80, Research, Estimates) had stronger results internationally than in the United States. Worldwide shipments fell 19.1 percent from a year ago, while in the U.S., year-over-year shipments fell 24.7 percent.
IBM's global PC shipments declined 22.1 percent year-on-year. IBM has been decreasing its emphasis on PCs, especially in the consumer segment. 
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