China passed the U.S. in Q2 to become the world’s largest PC market, according to IDC. During the quarter, roughly 18.5 million units -- both consumer and commercial -- worth $11.9 billion shipped in China, compared to 17.7 million units worth $11.7 billion in the U.S., IDC said. China represented 22 percent of global unit shipments of PCs, compared to the U.S. with 21 percent it said. For the full year, IDC still expects the U.S. to remain the largest market, with 73.5 million units forecast to ship in the U.S. versus 72.4 million in China, due to Q4 holiday season sales. China’s market, in contrast, traditionally contracts after its Q3 summer promotions, IDC said. China is not forecast to surpass the U.S. in annual PC shipments until 2012, when 85.2 million units are expected to ship in China and 76.6 million in the U.S., IDC said.
China passed the U.S. in Q2 to become the world’s largest PC market, according to IDC. During the quarter, roughly 18.5 million units -- both consumer and commercial -- worth $11.9 billion shipped in China, compared to 17.7 million units worth $11.7 billion in the U.S., IDC said. China represented 22 percent of global unit shipments of PCs, compared to the U.S. with 21 percent it said. For the full year, IDC still expects the U.S. to remain the largest market, with 73.5 million units forecast to ship in the U.S. versus 72.4 million in China, due to Q4 holiday season sales. China’s market, in contrast, traditionally contracts after its Q3 summer promotions, IDC said. China is not forecast to surpass the U.S. in annual PC shipments until 2012, when 85.2 million units are expected to ship in China and 76.6 million in the U.S., IDC said. Risks ahead for China include inflation and economic conditions in the U.S. and Europe, IDC said. The U.S. and European economies are the primary consumer markets for much of China’s goods and hold a broader role in global financial stability, Loren Loverde, program vice president of IDC’s Worldwide PC Tracker, told us. Lenovo is well positioned in China, holding more than 30 percent market share in Q2 versus 10 percent for number two Dell, Loverde said. Dell, Acer, and HP make up the second tier of PC vendors in China, and each will benefit from China’s growth, but to a lesser extent than Lenovo, he said. The Chinese government’s 12th Five-Year Plan, aimed at continuing growth in general and improving quality of life for a broader range of Chinese, will help buoy the growth rate of PC sales as they “relate directly to infrastructure investments in a range of cities and industries across the country as well as efforts to improve IT and communication access,” Loverde said. In worldwide PC shipments, HP still has a “considerable lead,” with 18.1 percent, Loverde told us, but Lenovo will likely pull ahead based on China growth as well as recent momentum. The shift toward commercial business at HP and Dell “may diminish their growth in China,” Loverde said. For Q2, Lenovo held the third-largest market share in PCs with 12.2 percent, behind Dell at 12.9 percent, he said. Acer, in fourth place, had 10.7 percent for Q2, followed by Toshiba with 5.3, he said. Asus, Samsung, and smaller players including Tongfang and Haier will also benefit from growth in China, but have smaller share both in China and worldwide, Loverde said.
Hewlett-Packard shares were down as much as 23 percent in morning trading Friday, a day after the company announced its decision to shut down its PC, tablet and smartphone business and focus on higher-margin enterprise, cloud, software and services revenue. In the company’s earnings webcast late Thursday, CEO Leo Apotheker spoke of “tough decisions” and the “velocity of change” in the PC marketplace that led the company to scrap its TouchPad webOS-based tablet a month and a half after hitting stores because it was “not meeting expectations."
Hewlett-Packard shares were down as much as 23 percent in morning trading Friday, a day after the company announced its decision to shut down its PC, tablet and smartphone business and focus on higher-margin enterprise, cloud, software and services revenue. In the company’s earnings webcast late Thursday, CEO Leo Apotheker spoke of “tough decisions” and the “velocity of change” in the PC marketplace that led the company to scrap its TouchPad webOS-based tablet a month and a half after hitting stores because it was “not meeting expectations."
HP confirmed Thursday ahead of its late-day earnings webcast that it was seeking a buyer for its computer, tablet and mobile business. It said its board had authorized “the exploration of strategic alternatives” for its Personal Systems Group (PSG), which could include a “full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction.” PSG’s portfolio includes PCs, mobile products, client virtualization and connected entertainment solutions, Internet services and support for consumers, small- to mid-sized business and enterprise customers.
Asus, which turned heads at Computex in May with the UX21, based on Intel’s Ultrabook platform, is now on track for a late-October debut in stores with prices that “should be under $1,000,” Tammy Lin, marketing specialist, told us in New York on a media tour touting new tablets and notebooks. Asus had originally planned to have Ultrabooks in stores in September. The company is planning 10-, 12- and 13-inch models based on the second-gen Intel Core i5 processor, Lin said, but pricing and feature details aren’t yet available, she said.
The 3D Audio Alliance is “well on the way” to a spec for MDA (Multi-Dimensional Audio) open, royalty-free 3D audio transmission standards, with the goal of having tools, a player and a spec defining the fundamentals of the MDA program available by the end of this year, John Kellogg, executive director of corporate strategy at SRS Labs, told Consumer Electronics Daily. At SRS’s studio in Santa Monica, Calif., “I can demonstrate MDA live, fully functional, right now,” Kellogg said.
A drop in hardware sales led a 26 percent decline in overall U.S. videogame industry sales for July to $707 million from that month last year. Videogame sales suffered their lowest month since October 2006, according to NPD sales data. Hardware sales fell 29 percent to $223 million as the average selling price for consoles remained flat. Videogame software sales for consoles and portables tumbled 17 percent to $336 million, while sales of videogame accessories slipped 8 percent to $127 million, NPD said. Total videogame software sales were down 30 percent to $357 million, including PC games, it said.
In the future, “consumers will be more likely to access the Internet through their televisions than via their PCs,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS iSuppli, in a report. Shipments of Internet-enabled consumer electronics devices will surpass PC shipments for the first time in 2013, according to the report. Shipments of connected CE devices -- including televisions, video game consoles, tablets, set-top boxes, digital media adapters and Blu-ray players -- will jump to 503.6 million units in 2013, from 161 million in 2010, IHS said. PC shipments during the same period will advance to 433.7 million from 345.4 million, it said. In 2015, shipments of connected consumer devices will reach 780.8 million units, outpacing PC shipments of 479.1 million units, it said.
Hit by vehicle production disruptions from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a rise in the price of neodymium for magnets used in high-end loudspeakers, Harman International said net income plunged 86 percent from a year ago in its fiscal Q4 to $18.87 million. Revenue of $1 billion for Q4 2011 compared with $850 million for the 2010 quarter, the company said. While “revenues were strong” in the company’s infotainment business, said CEO Dinesh Paliwal, they couldn’t “offset the loss of profit associated with the change in product mix,” resulting in a hit of 30 cents of earnings per share in the quarter, he said. Increases in July indicate the situation “is improving,” he said, and the company expects vehicle production to return to normal levels in the near term.