PC shipments down globally, but Asia Pacific holding up

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 14 April 2011 17:03

IT Industry - Market

Global PC shipments may be down but the Asia Pacific market is still growing, though not as strongly as previously expected.

Gartner has published its PC market figures for 1Q11, and the numbers are mixed. Worldwide, shipments declined 1.1% year-on-year, yet grew by 4.1% in the Asia Pacific region.

4.1% growth is a lot better than a 1.1% contraction, but Gartner had predicted 5.1%.

The company has yet to publish detailed figures for the region, but suggests shipments in Indonesia and Thailand "remained healthy" with around 10% growth.

Elsewhere in the region, Gartner points to Indian consumers' greater interest in TVs and other home electronics (plus the distration of the Cricket World Cup), and a lack of interest in PCs among Chinese consumers during the New Year holiday. Fortunately for vendors, demand from the business market held up.

Demand for 'mini notebooks' remained weak in the face of competition from the iPad and other tablets.

The trend to mobility was also reflected in the way desktop PC shipments declined by 0.2%, while mobile PC shipments grew by 9.1%.

All told, Gartner puts quarterly global PC shipments at 84,250,918, and regional shipments at 28,234,290.