The Australian PC market ended the year on a strong note with overall growth of 14.6% from 2004.  However, 2006 is shaping up to be a survival of the fittest, according to research group Gartner.

The big movers in 2005 were Acer and Dell, who both experienced explosive growth and now occupy 3rd and 2nd spots on the market share table respectively and are fast closing the gap on market leader HP.

"The robust PC industry was driven by positive consumer sentiment especially in the mobile PC space. Conversely, demand has been relatively flat in the enterprise space with much of the action coming from the small and medium size segment," said Andy Woo, principal analyst for Gartner's Client Platform Group.

"This is the fourth year in a row the Australian PC market has recorded double digit growth and that is an impressive performance given the maturity of the industry. The growth from a volume perspective is definitely coming at a cost as vendors try to outdo each other from a pricing perspective," Woo said. 

"As margins continue to shrink and cost pressures continue to mount, it is clearly a survival of the fittest in 2006. "We can expect another solid year bearing any unforeseen circumstances due to the stable economic environment and positive consumer sentiment."

Mobile PCs ended the year with a growth of 40.7% compared to 2004. "Everything is working for mobile PC at the moment - pricing has been extremely aggressive and mobile technologies continue to evolve to meet end users expectations," Woo said. "The mobile PC platform is becoming more compelling than ever before," Woo concluded.

HP remained number one with 16.5% market share, followed by Dell with 13.5%. Acer was the biggest mover for the year and came in third with 11.3% of the market. Lenovo and Toshiba made up the top 5 vendors in Australia.

From an Asia Pacific perspective, total PC shipment was 41.7 million units, a 26.2% increase from 33.1 million units in 2004. "This is a phenomenal year for PCs, with growth rates not seen since 2000. The economic confidence in the region and significant promotions on notebooks were the catalysts that drove demand especially from the home market," said Lillian Tay, Principal Analyst for Gartner's Computing Platform Group in Asia Pacific.

Australia PC Market Share(%) for 2005 (Units)

                 2004    2005    YOY Growth (%)
HP           16.6     16.5      14.3  
Dell         12.0     13.5      28.4  
Acer          8.3      11.3      55.6  
Lenovo    6.6         6.6      15.6  
Toshiba   5.6        5.9      19.4  
Others    50.9     46.2        3.5   
Total     100.0   100.0     14.6