According to preliminary results from research firm Gartner the 4th quarter of 2008, showed the worst growth rate of the computer hardware sales since 2002. There's one positive result though: the netbook sales are booming.
PC shipments were up about 1% during the 4th quarter of 2008. But revenue from computer sales was down by as much as 20%.
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2008 (Thousands of Units)
Company
2008
Shipments
2008 Market
Share (%)
2007
Shipments
2007 Market
Share (%)
2008-2007
Growth (%)
Hewlett-Packard
55,686.8
18.4
49,428.3
18.1
12.7
Dell Inc.
43,144.4
14.3
38,703.0
14.2
11.5
Acer
33,497.4
11.1
26,484.5
9.7
26.5
Lenovo
21,869.1
7.2
20,114.6
7.4
8.7
Toshiba
13,499.6
4.5
10,955.2
4.0
23.2
Others
134,510.2
44.5
126,766.9
46.5
6.1
Total
302,207.5
100.0
272,452.5
100.0
10.9
Note: Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and X86 servers.
Source: Gartner (January 2009)
The only growth driver for the 2008 holiday PC season was the netbook segment. With more vendors offering creative sales promotions, the netbook segment outpaced overall mobile PC growth.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program.
