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A drop in retail prices and continued demand for mobile computers has fuelled a global spike in computer sales, says research firm Gartner.
In Europe, strong growth has been linked to the drop in average selling prices as retailers attempt to shift increasing inventory levels.
Similarly, in the US the acceleration in demand has been at the expense of revenue as retailers have responded to the recent economic woes by cutting prices.
“Average selling price declines were greater in the US than in other segments,” says Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst for Gartner’s computing markets group. “The retail space was a harsh pricing environment during the quarter”.
The top computer vendors have all experienced continued growth in both shipments and market share, despite global economic concerns.
HP retains its position as market leader, holding 18.1 per cent of the market while Dell and Acer follow behind with 15.6 per cent and 9.4 per cent market share respectively.
The only real market losses have been from the ‘other’ category of small vendors, who have seen their market share squeezed by 1.5 per cent, prompting fears that a number of them will be unable to weather the economic climate.
“Economic uncertainties have hit PC revenues, resulting in steep average selling price declines”, says Ms. Kitagawa. “The industry could ultimately see a significant wave of consolidation if stronger vendors continue to press their pricing advantage”.
Link: Gartner
