Back-to-School Demand Saves PC Market

Global PC shipments came in at 80.9 million in the third quarter, up 0.5 percent from a year ago, according to Gartner.

OK, a 0.5 percent increase is a bit of a joke in most years, but after the shellacking the tech industry took in late 2008 and early 2009, vendors will take it. Gartner was expecting PC shipments to fall 5.6 percent in the third quarter (statement). Also see: Sam’s take on the IDC figures for the quarter.

Consumers continued to lead growth by gobbling up netbooks and cheap mobile PCs during back-to-school salses. Here’s the worldwide scorecard for the quarter:

And the U.S. picture where Apple, Acer and Toshiba are posting the largest growth gains.

Comments

[ryanclarke:]

Hmmmm ... what I read somewhere was U.S. retail sales for electronic and computer stuff was down ballpark 10% in August-September 2009 compared to last year. As far as computer vending shipments on the increase ... time will tell if the end user ( the consumer ) decides to max the credit card again to buy a PC with Windows 7.

Oct 17 03:03 AM