Worldwide Personal computer product sales skilled an sudden year-over-year decline for that first quarter,
Microsoft Office Home And Business 2010, in accordance with market study firm Gartner's preliminary product sales figures for early 2011. Gartner attributes the 1.one % dip in unit shipments—the first decline in six consecutive quarters since the global recession began—to tablet (read iPad) frenzy,
Office 2010 Pro Plus, as tablets are replacing low cost PCs for many consumers.
"Weak demand for consumer PCs was the biggest inhibitor of growth," principle analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement. Low prices haven't been enough to continue to attract consumer Personal computer spending, Kitagawa noted, as tablets and other mobile electronics have increasingly captured consumer attention. "With the launch of the iPad 2 in February, more consumers either switched to buying an alternative device, or simply held back from buying PCs. We're investigating whether this trend is likely to have a long-term effect on the Personal computer market place,
Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007," she said.
Soft consumer demand was offset somewhat by corporate "professional" Personal computer spending, fueled by regular update cycles,
Office 2010 Keygen, in accordance with Gartner. Without enterprise income,
Office 2010 Professional Plus, however, "the Personal computer market place could have seasoned one of the worst declines in its recent history," the firm noted.
Looking at throughout the world market place share, things haven't changed much in several quarters. HP continues to dominate worldwide Laptop sales, taking 17.6 percent of the marketplace despite a small 3.5 percent unit shipment decline. Dell continues to erode share, holding third place with 11.9 percent share. However, number two Acer dropped 12.9 percent in unit volume globally, inching toward the number three spot. Lenovo and Toshiba, rounding out the top five vendors, both increased unit shipments and market share year-over-year. In particular, Lenovo's impressive growth could push it past Dell to the number three spot if it continues to sustain.
HP continues to lead Laptop domestic product sales with 26.2 % share, with unit revenue down 3.5 percent year-over-year for that initial quarter. However, while former market leader Dell continues to experience a noticeable decline in unit sales—down 12.1 percent year-over-year—the company is doing well at home with 22.3 % market place share. It is also still topping rival Acer, which suffered huge 24.9 percent decline in the US. Toshiba and Apple both managed healthy unit shipment growth year-over-year, with Apple boosting shipments 18.9 percent; the two companies maintained their fourth and fifth place rankings respectively.
While some in tech circles scoffed at Steve Jobs' proclamation that the iPad was the harbinger of a "post PC" era, Gartner's data suggest he may be on to something. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have largely taken over new device announcements from both consumer electronics makers and traditional Pc vendors. And above a quarter of tablet users in a recent survey said they use a tablet as their primary computing device.