Lenovo takes advantage of HP suffering

Embattled computer giant HP was the hardest hit of companies hoping for a strong Christmas, with Q4 figures for PC shipments showing the tech titan is still struggling following a difficult 2011, while rival Lenovo continues its ascent towards the top spot.

HP’s fourth quarter decline of 16.2 percent forms the final chapter in a disappointing year for the company, with Gartner results for 2011 revealing the company dropped 3.5 percent in PC shipments over the year, despite positive growth for Q3 in the US. HP’s results were indicative of a global drop of 1.4 percent, in line with the analyst firm’s earlier prediction of 1 percent.

Gartner attributed the decline to the confusion surrounding the possible sale of HP’s PSG business, first flagged in August by former CEO Leo Apotheker before being taken off the table by incoming boss Meg Whitman.

But despite a new CEO and outlook, Gartner said the company still had to battle aggressive pricing from rivals along with weak consumer demand.

HP did, however, manage to retain its number one position despite rival Lenovo continuing to nip at its heels. The number two PC maker has been creeping up on its competitor since positive Q3 results allowed it to overtake then-number two Dell, last quarter posting a 23 percent jump in shipments.

Lenovo was one of several tech companies to take advantage of anxiety amongst HP’s PC partners throughout last year. According to Gartner, this strategy, along with aggressive pricing and acquisitions of NEC and Medion, has paid off, with the company reporting just under 20 percent growth for 2011.

Lenovo chief Alan Munro told CRN in Q3 last year the company had gained 40 new channel partners since HP’s PSG spin-off announcement. Dell and IBM also claimed to have each brought on several HP partners while sources within HP revealed that a significant number of customers had deserted the company over the past few months.

“It’s the uncertainty of the [PC business] announcement that makes it difficult for vendors,” Monro said. “It’s important HP realises if vendors are going to recommend products, they need to be sure the products are going to be here in the future.”

Asus’ move from mini-notebooks to regular notebooks meant it out-shipped Toshiba to gain sixth place with ten percent growth in 2011, reaching 20,768,465 PC shipments globally. And while Dell has conceded ground to Lenovo, it is nevertheless in good health thanks, Garrtner said, to upgrades to Windows 7, specifically in the Asia Pacific region where it achieved 30 percent growth.

The Asia Pacific region overall saw a Q4 8.5 percent increase from 2010, below Gartner’s predicted growth of 10.6 percent, attributed to weaker growth in China, India and Thailand. 

Thailand floods had ‘no effect’ on shipments

Contrary to expectations, the hard disk drive shortage caused by flooding in Thailand had a limited effect on PC shipments, however Gartner analysts are predicting the impact is yet to be felt. The firm   says shortages will be felt significantly in the first of of 2012 and will force a decline in PC shipment growth during the year.