Apple and Gateway post huge gains in PC shipments

Framingham (MA) - Latest PC shipment data released by market research firm IDC indicates that the PC market may grow faster in 2005 than originally expected. All large PC manufacturers achieved strong gains in the third quarter of this year, with Apple and Gateway leading the growth.

IDC's preliminary PC shipment forecast estimates global PC shipment growth in Q3 at 17.1 percent, versus the firm's August forecast of 13.3 percent. While the firm has not yet provided details on which specific segments were responsible for the increase in shipments, IDC said that both low-cost and notebook systems in general continued to drive the market forward. Analyst Richard Shim told TG Daily that exact figures are still being calculated, but especially notebook shipments were "high" and "very high" in some cases.

"Notebook adoption continued to drive PC growth in the U.S. complemented by the desktop market which was stronger than expected due to aggressive pricing," Shim said. "The third quarter is typically defined by the back-to-school season, which was particularly strong this year. Notebooks were a significant influence in the consumers' back-to-school shopping and that carried over to other markets."

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VendorQ3 2005 Shipments in 1000sMarket Share in %Q3 2004 Shipments in 1000sMarket Share in %Growth in %
Dell5,63833.25,02332.812.2
HP3,45020.33,13320.510.1
Gateway1,0826.48005.235.2
Lenovo7574.500N/A
Apple7374.35103.344.6
Others5,30531.35,82638.1-8.9
All16,969100.015,293100.011.0

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