Times are not good for PC segment. According to a latest report released by Gartner, global shipments for PCs fell 1.4 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011. US market performed worse than the global one and declined 5.9 percent. However, Mac computers bucked the trend and registered 20.7 percent year over year growth for the fourth quarter of the year.
While all the major computer manufacturers faced decline in their shipments, HP was hit worst during the quarter. Its shipment fell 16.2 percent globally and 26.1 percent in the US market. Acer also showed 18.4 percent decline in global shipments, while its PC demand in the US fell by 11.4 percent on year over year basis. Dell and Toshiba also suffered 4.5 percent and 2.2 percent drop in US demand.
Globally, Asus and Lenovo showed improvement during the last quarter of year 2011. Lenovo increased its sales volume by 23 Percent and Asus also performed well with 20.5 percent increase in its PC demand. Dell also registered 7.8 percent growth globally. Overall, HP, despite its slide, managed to retain its top position globally and in the US.
While fourth quarter also saw Ultrabooks chipping away at PC's market share, but the newly released contraptions are not the main reason behind the decline. Ultrabooks are expected to increase their visibility in 2012.