Worldwide sales of U.S. personal computers drop
Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The nation's ailing PC industry has led to the first decline in worldwide sales of personal computers, according to market research firm Gartner Dataquest.
Preliminary results from the second quarter indicated that worldwide shipments of personal computers totaled 30.4 million units, a decline of 1.9 percent from the second quarter of 2000, the firm reported yesterday.
It was the second-consecutive quarter of negative growth in domestic PC sales. U.S. shipments dropped by 6.1 percent, from 11.4 million to 10.7 million units. The United States accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world's PC market.
Initial estimates for Western Europe, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the world's PC sales, also indicated negative growth, Gartner Dataquest analyst Todd Kort said. Specific figures for Western Europe were not yet available.
"It's slightly worse than we expected," Kort said of the findings. "Earlier this year, we were hoping for a (U.S.) turnaround in the third quarter but now we're not expecting a turnaround until Christmas at best."
Dell, the world's top PC vendor with a 13 percent market share, was the only major computer maker to have positive growth rates in both the worldwide and domestic sectors.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company's second-quarter shipment growth — 20 percent worldwide and 15 percent in the United States — came at the expense of its top rivals.
Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Gateway Inc. and IBM Corp. all saw their shipments decline in the United States, ranging from IBM's decrease of 10.7 percent to HP's 18.8 percent decline. Worldwide, the top five vendors included NEC instead of Gateway, and the shipment declines ranged from IBM's 6.5 percent decrease to Compaq's 14.4 percent.
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