PC sales continue to rise, analysts say

Computer sales in the United States continued their upward rise in 2007's final months, countering recent forecasts that spending growth in the broader technology sector would slow this year, two technology research firms reported Wednesday.

The results of the fourth quarter also showed Hewlett-Packard Corp. maintained its slight edge over Dell Inc. as the world's largest computer maker, with little change in market share.

The fourth quarter's increase in computer shipments was roughly in line with the third quarter, when shipments rose at the fastest rate in nearly two years.

Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC said shipments in October through December rose 15.5 per cent, to 77.4 million units, up from 67 million a year earlier.

Gartner Inc., of Stamford, Conn., pegged the growth at a slightly slower 13.1 per cent, with 75.9 million units shipped, up from 67.1 million in last year's fourth quarter.

The two firms use slightly different measurements.

Mobile computers drive growth

IDC said U.S. and global gains were driven by growing popularity of mobile computers as well as shifts into new sales channels by Dell and Taiwan-based Acer Inc. Dell has recently begun selling through large retail chains such as Wal-Mart and Staples, in a departure from its direct-to-customer business model.

"Fourth-quarter results show a very healthy PC market," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's worldwide quarterly PC tracker. "There is a lot happening with vendors repositioning their channels and going after new markets, while falling prices and portable adoption continue to drive volume."

The U.S. economic downturn has triggered predictions that U.S. technology spending won't grow as fast as it has concerns that were heightened Tuesday after Intel Corp.'s robust profit and sales figures narrowly missed analyst expectations.

The chip-maker said the PC business appeared to be healthy and blamed its shortfall on lower-than-expected sales of a type of flash memory found in many digital gadgets.

But IDC said it does expect the growth in PC shipments to slow.

"Despite fourth-quarter strength, projections for the next couple years anticipate slower growth," Loverde said. "Rising concerns about economic growth are likely to reduce expectations further, although we're still likely to see double-digit growth through 2008 and probably 2009."

HP remains on top

IDC reported that 269 million PCs were shipped in 2007, for annual growth of 14.3 per cent.

Gartner counted 271.2 million units shipped last year, a 13.4 per cent increase.

The year "showed a clear indication of the worldwide PC market landscape: strong growth in emerging regions such as Asia/Pacific and slower growth in markets such as the United States," Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard moved ahead of Dell in late 2006 as the world's largest PC maker, an edge it maintained in last year's fourth quarter, though Dell.

Both IDC and Gartner put HP's worldwide market share at 19 per cent, up from IDC's 17.8 per cent market share estimate in the previous year's fourth quarter and Gartner's 17.4 per cent estimate.

Both firms ranked Dell second, with Acer, China's Lenovo Group Ltd. and Japan-based Toshiba Corp. rounding out the Top 5.