News

Report: PC Sales Have Modest Growth in Third Quarter

• By Chris Paoli
• October 18, 2010

According to the International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report, the worldwide PC market grew 11 percent in Q3 of 2010.

Even though the global computer market experienced positive gains, it failed to reach the projected 14 percent growth due to weaker-than-expected back-to-school and personal PC purchases. 

The market's gain can be attributed to strong enterprise-level spending, with desktop PC numbers better than expected, especially for the month of September. This countered the weak sales of laptops, according to IDC.

"Despite a sluggish start, the quarter ended with a good rally in September which could be a good prelude for what is ahead," said Jay Chou, research analyst with IDC's Worldwide PC Tracker Program in a press release. "Lower PC component costs, budding excitement around new media-centric form factors and continued business buying should still make for a competitive holiday season."

Japan was the only region to exceed the projected sales forecast, with the U.S. missing its mark by 7 percent. Due to strong consumer fatigue, the U.S. market only grew 3.8 percent over this time last year.

One vendor that had better-than-expected sales in the U.S. was Apple. Riding strong sales of its recently-released iPad, the company claimed a 24.1 percent gain over the same time last year. However, Apple's gain was competitor's pain, as the iPad helped to steal away sales from other vendors' laptop and netbook products. 

"Apple's influence on the PC market continues to grow, particularly in the U.S., as the company's iPad has had some negative impact on the mininotebook market," commented IDC's vice president for Clients and Displays Bob O'Donnell in a press release. "But, the halo effect of the device also helped propel Mac sales and moved the company into the number three position in the U.S. market."

Dell was the only vendor to experience a drop in the U.S., with a decrease of 4.9 percent over Q3 of 2009. The company fared much better in the overall worldwide market, adding 7 percent of growth.