Global PC shipments for '12 fall 3.2%: report

International Data Corp. (IDC) said in a report that global PC shipments in 2012 totaled 352.42 million units, down from 363.89 million the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, global PC shipments fell 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 89.79 million units, marking the first year-on-year decline during a shopping season in five years, IDC said.

The debut of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system failed to boost demand for PCs in the fourth quarter so demand remained weak, IDC said.

“Although the third quarter was focused on the clearing of Windows 7 inventory, preliminary research indicates the clearance did not significantly boost the uptake of Windows 8 systems in the fourth quarter,” IDC analyst Jay Chou said.

“Lost in the shuffle to promote a touch-centric PC, vendors have not forcefully stressed other features that promote a more secure, reliable and efficient user experience,” he said.

In the U.S. market, PC shipments in the fourth quarter fell 4.5 percent from a year earlier, bringing 2012 to a rough ending. Shipments for the year recorded a 7 percent annual drop.

In 2012, Acer Group of Taiwan shipped 33.49 million PC units worldwide, down by an annual 9.7 percent and putting the company in fourth place as the largest PC vendor worldwide. Acer's market share in 2012 fell to 9.5 percent from 10.2 percent a year earlier.

IDC said Acer remained heavily dependent on consumer spending, but consumers shifted their focus to other products, which hurt the company's shipments.

Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. finished 2012 as the world's fifth largest PC vendor, with its shipments increasing by an annual 17.0 percent to 24.13 million units. Asustek accounted for 6.8 percent of global shipments, up from 5.7 percent. IDC said the higher shipments reflected the company's strong gains across several regions.

Hewlett-Packard remained the world's largest PC vendor in 2012, shipping 58.13 million units, but the figure represented an annual 6.7 percent decline, which dragged down the company's market share from 17.1 percent to 16.5 percent.

Lenovo Group ranked as the second largest PC vendor last year, shipping 52.45 million units, up 19.2 percent from a year earlier. Its market share rose to 14.9 percent from 12.1 percent.

Dell was third, with an 11-percent share of the global PC market in 2012, down from 12.2 percent in 2011. Its shipments stood at 38.72 million units, down 12.6 percent from a year earlier.

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