Two dueling sets of statistics lead to the same conclusion: The PC market ended the year on a high note.
PC shipments grew 17 percent in the fourth quarter of 1999 compared to the same period in 1998, according to Dataquest, which is part of GartnerGroup. And International Data Corp. reported that shipments grew 19 percent for the same period. (The two research firms vary slightly in their definitions of what constitutes a PC; Dataquest, for example, does not include servers in its data.)
The data shows that consumers and businesses were not discouraged by fears of Y2K bugs while investing in PCs. Dataquest says that sales slowed only 2 percent in the fourth quarter because of Y2K.
Overall, Dataquest reported that PC shipments were up 21.7 percent over 1998, with 113.5 million units shipped. Compaq Computer Corp. maintained its lead in worldwide market share with 13 percent, followed by Dell Computer, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
However, Dell posted the strongest growth rate among top vendors, with more than 50 percent growth both worldwide and in the U.S. Dell edged out Compaq for most U.S. shipments last year, with 16 percent of the U.S. market.
According to Dataquest, HP, Gateway and Apple Computer had double-digit growth both worldwide and in the U.S. last year. The research firm also said HP's success was driven by the success of its Pavilion line with home users. Apple, meanwhile, continued to ride the success of its iMac line to better sales, although it still lags behind competitors.
Both analyst firms said market growth can continue if PC vendors continue reducing prices. IDC predicts that PC shipments will grow 18 percent in 2000, compared to 13 percent from Dataquest.
Compaq, which grew 8 percent in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period, shipped nearly 4.6 million PCs worldwide vs. Dell's 3.6 million, which grew 45 percent, IDC said.
During 1999 as a whole, Compaq built 15.7 million PCs, a 14 percent share of the market, vs. Dell's 11.9 million PCs, which amounted to a 10.5 percent share, up from an 8.5 percent share a year ago, IDC said.
Globally, HP's rapid growth put it neck-and-neck with IBM for the No. 3 spot, both surveys said. Dataquest said HP benefited by the exit of IBM from the U.S. retail PC market during the fourth quarter and the general withdrawal from the U.S. market by Packard Bell NEC, the one-time king of retail consumer PC sales.
IBM saw its U.S. growth decline 29 percent during the fourth quarter as the PC pioneer sought to shift consumer PC sales from stores to the Web and redoubled its focus on its still healthy notebook and server computer businesses.
Reuters contributed to this report.
