PC Sales Surge in Q1, Expected to Break Record for 2010

From: Windows IT Pro

By: Paul Thurrott

4-15-2010

According to market researchers at IDC and Gartner, PC sales surged over 25 percent in the first quarter of 2010, setting the stage for what could be a year of record PC sales. And that's bad news for Apple: The PC sales surge came during the quarter in which the company announced its new iPad device, which was supposed to jumpstart a new computing product category, according to Apple and like-minded pundits. Instead, it was traditional PC desktops and laptops running Windows 7 that went flying out the door.

According to Gartner, PC makers sold over 88 million personal computers in the first quarter. And the 25 percent gain in year-over-year sales was dramatically better than the 15 percent growth seen in the previous quarter, suggesting that the recent economic downturn is coming to a close, at least in the tech sector.

"The strong first quarter builds on the fourth-quarter rebound and shows rising confidence in the PC supply chain and commercial client base along with persistent demand from consumers," an IDC report reads.

"These Q1 figures indicate that the professional PC market is gradually picking up, driven by replacements in mature markets," a Gartner report explains. "Major PC replacement demand driven by Windows 7 will become more apparent in the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011."

HP was the number one PC seller in the quarter, again, followed by Acer (with incredible 54.3 percent growth), Dell, Lenovo (a whopping 59 percent growth), and then ASUS (114.8 percent!) and Toshiba, which were tied for fifth place. Not coincidentally, microprocessor maker Intel this week also posted mammoth sales figures of its own, thanks to strong demand for its PC chips: The company earned $2.4 billion in profits on revenues of $10.3 billion, both record amounts for the company. Intel saw growth across the board, both in low-end and high-end systems and, for the first time in a while, with corporate customers.

Looking ahead, both IDC and Gartner now expect 2010 to be a record year for PC sales. On average, PC sales are expected to grow as much as 25 percent this year. Put in perspective, PC sales growth was just 5 percent in 2009.

For more information and a discussion about the quarter's PC sales figures, please see Q1 2010 PC Market Share on the SuperSite Blog.

SOURCE

NOTE: I color highlighted the text in a couple of sentences of the first paragraph. Also, added the word billion to the $2.4 figure in Intel's earnings sentence.

Thats very good news and good news for me ! this year incoming work has over doubled and as of a few weeks ago I'm now an employer, Windows 7 is the best thing that has happened in computing for years

That's Great! Good deal for you Veedaz. Hope your business continues to grow and prosper.

Thank you Nibiru2012, Its surprising how many people are having there Vista Desktops / Laptops installed with Windows 7, its becoming a big success for Microsoft

It definitely is a HUGE success (Win 7), XP is old, and Vista was a flop. The release of Windows 7 is a 100% true success, no matter how you see it. And also, a major boost to 64 bit computing, as all but the netbooks received 64 bit Windows 7. There is no telling how much that Windows 7 has pumped into the worldwide community, really, no way to track it all. But the fact remains, during this recession that we're in, Windows 7 will possibly turn out to be the biggest gainer, and possibly contribute to pulling us out of it. Tech jobs are in HIGH demand right now (on the same par as health care). As much as there's those who accuses Microsoft as being a dirty, greedy, you name it, corporation that is only for itself, Microsoft has done their part in keeping the economy going with innovative products. And they do give back to the community, look at the HUGE discounts that students and teachers receive. Schools probably get their products for next to nothing. Employers also receive volume discounts. Microsoft's place is etched in society today. And not only are they posting record profits, they are helping to jump start the economy in their own way. May Microsoft live forever!

Now about those DRAM prices...

Yeah they are still twice what they were before Windows 7 was released.

catilley - Be careful there! Some people here might think that you're a M$ sycophant!

I'm glad things worked out well for you, Veedaz! I remember a few short months ago, you were working a job and running your shop. Now you're an independent businessman. What a difference the release of a OS can make!