PC Market's Gains Unlikely to Repeat, Amid Macroeconomic Concerns, Reports Canalys
The Trump administration’s decision to delay proposed Section 301 List 4B tariffs last month led to stronger than expected PC spending in the holiday quarter, and led U.S. retailers to absorb additional inventory, said Canalys Friday, but concerns over Brexit…
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led to lower gains in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The U.S. had 7 percent growth in Q4 vs. the prior-year quarter, to 17.9 million shipments, but 2020 “is unlikely to repeat the success of 2019,” said analyst Rushabh Doshi. Citing macroeconomic factors, Doshi said key markets including the U.S., Japan and India are expected to underperform for most of the year. Adding uncertainty is “a possible disruption to HP, which continues to be the target of a hostile takeover by Xerox,” Doshi said. In the U.K., PC shipments will likely accelerate as channels build inventory ahead of the Jan. 31 departure date from the EU, “as distributors are nervous about subsequent product delays between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK,” said the analyst. The global PC market -- including desktop, laptops and workstations -- recorded its first full year of growth in eight years last year, growing 2.7 percent to 268.1 million shipments. Lenovo (6.4 percent), HP (6.6 percent) and Dell (10.6 percent) had growth, but Apple computer sales declined 8.1 percent.