W. European PC shipments total 14.8M units in Q3 2011-- an -11.4% Y-o-Y decline according to Gartner. The analyst rightfully describes the results as "unpleasant reading for the PC industry."
After all Q3 is traditional "strong" consumer quarter, being the back-to-school sale season. Thankfully, the inventory build-up slowing down the last 4 quarters appears to be clearing up.
The mobile PC market declines by -12.6% Y-o-Y-- mostly due to the sharp decrease of over -40% in mini notebook shipments-- while Q3 2011 desktop PC shipments are down by -8.7% Y-o-Y.
Gartner says the consumer segment is the hardest hit-- decreasing by -18.8% Y-o-Y.
The professional segment also remains remains subdued due to the still pessimistic economic outlook, declining by -2.1% Y-o-Y as the "much hoped-for" migration to Windows 7 only manages to crawl forward.
HP remains the top W. European PC vendor with 22.7% market share, despite the uncertainties its PC division was facing. The company was considering either a spin-off or an outright sale, before backing up on such a decision.
Acer continues losing market share (down to 15.2% market share, from 24.5% in Q3 2010) and continues facing bloated inventory-- opening the channel for the likes of Asus, now in 3rd place (beating Dell with 10.6% market share) thanks to "sharp growth" in notebook shipments across consumer and SMB segments.
Apple takes 5th place with double-digit growth in both consumer and professional segments, particularly with mobile PC shipments growing by 28% Y-o-Y.
In conclusion? The W. European consumer confidence "permanently shaken", as economic issues continue spreading across most of the region. One can see declines across all regions, even if France sees better results than most of Europe-- a -2.1% Y-o-Y decline, compared to the -11.4% European average.
Go Gartner Says W. European PC Market Declined 11% in Q3 2011
The reasoning comes via Hon Hai forecasts predicting "more limited upside to iPad units" by reducing Q4 2011 forecasts from 15.4M units to 11.6M due to "weak demand."
The Folio 13 is 18mm thick, weighs around 1.5kg and has a 13.3" BrightView display. HP says it also has up to 9 hours of battery life.
As the name implies the 111.5 square metre HMV Techshop focuses on selling CE (including tablets, notebooks and MP3 players), alongside a small video game and DVD/Blu-ray title selection. Customers are also able to try goods and ask for advice from tech advisers in-store.
Li ion batteries are not only found in most mobile devices-- from mobile phones to laptops-- but also in electric cars and even "exoskeleton" robots.
