Dell leads PC industry growth

Rethink IT, March, 2005

The PC industry racked up another quarter of double-digit growth to close out 2004, thanks to Europeans and corporate buyers.

Shipments of PCs grew by 13.7% worldwide in the fourth quarter, according to figures from market researcher IDC, while rival Gartner said units increased by 10.9% globally in the last quarter of last year.

For the year, PC shipments came to 177.5m, a record, and grew by 14.7% over the 2003 total, according to IDC. Gartner, meanwhile, said 189m PCs left factories last year, a growth rate of 11.8%.

The increase was largely fueled by a constituency that has been absent for a few years: corporate buyers. Companies that bought new PCs in the face of the Y2K problem finally upgraded. European businesses and consumers, benefiting from a strong euro, also bought PCs in growing numbers.

Winners in the most recent quarter include Dell, which expanded its lead both globally and in the United States, and Acer, which broke into the top five worldwide in 2004 and saw shipments grow by about 34%--faster than other major vendors.

Dell saw shipments grow by 21.1% worldwide in the fourth quarter to give the company a 17% share of the global market, according to IDC. For the year, Dell saw shipments grow by 23% to give it a market share of 17.9%.