FRAMINGHAM, MA – Third-quarter worldwide PC shipments increased 3.6% year-over-year, beating last quarter's numbers but lower than market projections.

The market grew 2.7% in the second quarter, according to International Data Corp. In August, IDC forecast 4.5% growth in the quarter.

The Americas and EMEA were slightly below expectations while the Asia/Pacific markets were slightly ahead. The market continues to struggle as consumer discretionary income is diverted to other areas and business spending remains depressed in light of other priorities and a potential double-dip recession, IDC said.

"For the moment, PCs have taken a backseat to a range of other devices competing for shrinking consumer and business budgets," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst. "While growth is expected to stay in mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, we should see faster growth in 2012 and beyond based on easier comparisons and refreshed PC offerings as the industry better addresses the evolving usage models by integrating more of the features in ultra mobile devices."

Loren Loverde, IDC vice president of Worldwide Consumer Device Trackers, added, "Although we don't see media tablets and other devices replacing PCs, questions on how products will evolve, and consumer interest in these and other categories are providing a distraction. And while price remains critical, many users are delaying PC purchases for the moment. Still, there are opportunities, and we expect PCs to find stronger demand in the coming years."

Asia/Pacific had a strong quarter with double-digit growth, meeting expected volume. The region managed to regain momentum, reversing two previous quarters of only single digit growth due to gains in China and India, as well as good volume in Indonesia and Thailand. US market shipments came in roughly flat year-over-year on constrained consumer and commercial demand. Europe, Middle East and Africa saw sustained weakness in consumer demand, with spending being diverted to media tablets and smartphones, while vendors and channel players remained focused on clearing consumer notebook inventory before taking new stock. Japan continued to see growth in low single-digits.

Among the top vendors, HP grew 5.3% year-over-year on double-digit growth in the US. Dell's declines in mature regions more than offset continued to make gains in emerging markets. Lenovo experienced strong gains across all regions as it continues its channel expansion and capitalizes on disarray among the other top players. Lenovo has now outpaced the market by more than 10% for the past nine quarters, and by 20% or more in six of these periods. Acer continued to struggle with inventory clearing and adjusting its strategy following declines in mini notebooks and its management shake-up. Total shipments were down 20.6% from a year ago – the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. Asus had a strong quarter, boosting growth to over 30% on strong gains in Asia/Pacific and improvements in EMEA. Apple's total shipments increased more than 20%, recovering from a dip to 15% growth in the second quarter but otherwise continuing a trend of more than two years with over 20% growth.

Table 1. Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Third Quarter 2011 (Preliminary) (in thousands)

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, October 12, 2011

Table 2. Top 5 Vendors, US PC Shipments, Third Quarter 2011 (Preliminary) (in thousands)

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, October 12, 2011

Table Notes:

• Some IDC estimates prior to financial earnings reports.
• Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
• PCs include Desktops, Portables, Mini Notebooks and do not include handhelds, x86 Servers and Media Tablets (i.e. iPad and Android-based Tablets). Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.