Recent market research show the ANZ PC market increasing by 10% in 2005 from the same period in 2004 but decreasing by 0.3% sequentially from the previous quarter, indicating there may be a slowdown in the market.

Research from IDC, shows that during the final quarter the performance of the Australian market was notably more positive with a sequential increase of 2% and of 12% from the same period in 2004. After a booming third quarter, the results show a step back for the New Zealand PC market in Q4, with unit shipments declining 14.9% sequentially and 1.4% over the same quarter the year before.

The final quarter of 2005 for Australia performed very much to IDC’s expectations overall, but was full of subplots and changes in market dynamics and rankings. The seasonal return of education in November came in full force along with the increase in the holiday consumer market during the same period. In addition the sub 1,000 notebook market now has a full audience of vendors with Acer, Dell, HP and Toshiba fighting it out.

Liam Gunson, senior analyst PC Hardware, stated that, "The NZ notebook market has been fuelled by aggressive low priced offerings in a market where economic factors such as low unemployment and a strong housing space have boosted spending. The introduction of the sub NZ$1000 notebook and heavy promotion in Q3 brought a lot of demand forward from both the end-user and the channel, however it also left the market with very little options for attractive promotions around the Christmas period, contributing to a marked decline during the quarter." 

Michael Sager, research manager, hardware, stated that, "The last two years have been a welcome growth period after the market decline post Y2K. Heading into 2006 the Australian economy is showing hints of further slowing and there remains no 'killer app' to spur market growth. The saving grace for the market is most certainly the consumer market and its growth potential, including broadband uptake, which will be a critical factor in the coming year.

"Despite a poor fourth quarter, 2005 saw the New Zealand PC market move past the half million mark for the first time. With unit shipments reaching 532,838. The market grew 6.6% over 2004 as a robust notebook market outweighed a declining desktop space. However the growth of the New Zealand PC market has been slowing over the past two years and is expected to continue with this trend moving into 2006.

Gunson also noted that, "2006 will be an interesting year as new technologies, such as Intel Duo and Windows Vista, come to market in an economy that is winding down. While we don't expect these technologies to create strong growth, the challenge for vendors will be to use them and other means to try and increase the value of the PC space as unit shipment growth slows."

Prelim ANZ Top 6 Total PC Vendor Market Share Q4 2005

Overall Share:
HP - 18.4%
Dell - 15.5%
Acer - 11.2%
Toshiba - 7.2%
Lenovo - 6.0%
Apple - 4.2%
Others - 37.5%
Total - 100.0%

Specific to Australia, IDC's Sager also noted that, "There were some very significant movements in both market share and rankings during the final quarter of 2005. HP was able to maintain its top spot, but its margin ahead of Dell in Q4 was trimmed to 0.8%. While there was a decline for HP they did well in the consumer market and have added Synnex as a new distribution partner for its notebook range. Dell had a phenomenal quarter with growth in the education space and consumer markets. After seeing a massive rise in the third quarter, Acer fell back slightly to maintain its third position in the total market."

"Toshiba rose to fourth position with a very strong quarter on the back of consumer and education demand. Lenovo, who seasonally declines in Q4 due to its historical focus on the commercial market finished in fifth position. Rounding out the top 6 was Apple, who is emerging as a bit of a dark horse in the local market having just moved over to Intel CPUs and seeing very strong growth during the final quarter of 2005,” stated Mr Sager.

Prelim Australia Top 6 Total PC Vendor Market Share Q4 2005
 
Overall Share:
HP - 16.5%
Dell - 15.7%
Acer - 11.6%
Toshiba - 7.1%
Lenovo - 5.9%
Apple - 4.1%
Others - 39.1%
Total - 100.0%