PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

News
HP rises again to be the world’s
top PC maker as Lenovo slips
HP excelled in North America, which was decisive in helping it beat Lenovo. Agam Shah reports
HP’s Omen X marks the company’s
return to enthusiast gaming
It was another tough quarter for PC
shipments, but there was good news for HP,
which edged Lenovo to regain the title of
world top’s PC maker, according to IDC.
Worldwide PC shipments totalled 60.3
million units in the first quarter of 2017,
growing by just 0.6 percent compared to
the same quarter the previous year.
IDC previously forecast a decline
of 1.8 percent in PC shipments, so the
positive growth was a sign the PC market
is recovering. Quarterly PC shipments
reported positive growth for the first time
since the first quarter of 2012.
Lenovo previously beat HP for the title
of the world’s top maker in 2013 and has
mostly held the position since then. HP
regained the top spot this quarter boosted
by strong laptop shipments worldwide.
Now the question remains can HP hold
the number one spot. A separate survey
released by Gartner put Lenovo as the
world’s top PC maker. The numbers of IDC
and Gartner don’t match as the two firms
measure PC shipments in different ways.
For example, Gartner does not account
for Chromebook shipments in its survey.
According to Gartner, worldwide PC
shipments totalled 62.2 million units for
the first quarter, down by 2.4 percent.
Nevertheless, the analyst firms agreed
that PC shipments were held back by
rising prices, which happened due to a
shortage of NAND and DRAM. Prices of
these components are expected to rise
even more in the coming quarters, which
could affect PC prices.
But the rising prices shouldn’t stop PC
shipments from picking up later this year.
Businesses are expected to upgrade to the
latest PCs, and they tend to spend more
on laptops and desktops.
Lenovo took a beating in North America,
which is the main reason it lost the top
position in IDC’s survey. HP did well in the
region. PC shipments rebounded in Europe,
while Asia-Pacific was soft.
HP has cut many low-priced PCs while
focusing on high-end PCs and premium
designs. Lenovo has come up with
innovative PCs like Yoga, but its home
market of China was weak.
According to IDC, HP’s worldwide
shipments totalled 13.1 million units,
growing by 13.1 percent year-over-year,
for a 21.8 percent market share. Lenovo’s
shipments totalled 12.3 million, growing by
just 1.7 percent.
In third place was Dell; its shipments
went up by 6.2 percent to 9.6 million.
Fourth-placed Apple’s shipments grew by 4.1
percent to 4.2 million. In close fifth was Acer,
with shipments totalling 4.1 million. J
8 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news July 2017