The higher shipment numbers for some primarily indirect vendors may point to potential fourth-quarter problems. The fourth quarter could show slower unit growth, as upgrade cycles are deferred into 2001, and no revenue growth as vendors jockey to keep supply lines clear. In the U.S. PC market, five of the top six vendors had growth rates above the industry average. Dell had a good growth quarter by industry standards, but it was a poor one based on its own standards. Compaq saw an increase in direct sales, and like many of the other vendors, is working to consolidate its PC lines in order to reduce costs and increase customer value.
Table includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs and PC servers.
It's important to recognize that slow growth in the developed regions does not diminish the value of the PC market. However, vendors must build share and revenue in other markets and geographical areas if they are to continue to return financial results to stockholder expectations. These results are preliminary at this time. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner Dataquest's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe.