PC sales strong in 2003: IDC

There were 618,827 units (desktops and notebooks) shipped in Australia in the final quarter of 2003, according to IDC, which represented a two percent increase from the third quarter of 2003 and a 10 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2002. The desktop market grew by three percent year-on-year, although it remained flat over the third and fourth quarter, while the notebook market increased by nine percent in the fourth quarter over the third quarter and 38 percent year-on-year.

"At this stage it looks like retail sales were solid," said IDC's PC analyst Imraan Ali. "Although early indications were that the market was soft it was more a case of the vendors expectations being set too high. The education market was again the major growth segment with a number of desktop and notebook supplier benefiting from steady buying during the quarter."

For the whole year the overall personal computer market grew by 18 percent in 2003 compared with 2002, with desktop shipments increasing by 14 percent and notebook shipments increasing by 35 percent.

HP still commanded the greatest market share at 17.7 percent of the total market in the fourth quarter 2003, although this did represent a drop from the 19.3 percent it held in the second quarter of 2003. Dell took the second largest slice at 12.7 percent, followed by IBM (8.5 percent), Acer (7.7 percent) and Toshiba (5.7 percent). Apple took 3.9 percent of the personal computer market.