Australia’s PC market grew 10 per cent in Q4 2009, driven by the advent of Windows 7, lifecycle refreshes under government contracts and strong sales of Apple Macs following price cuts, market researcher IDC has reported.
But it warns that this rate won’t be sustained, with market growth for 2010 likely to be more like 5 per cent.
Top 10 makers for the quarter were: 1, H-P (23.7pc); 2, Dell (15.1pc); 3, Acer (12.5pc); 4, Toshiba (10.2pc); 5, Apple (9.1pc); 6, Lenovo (8.9pc); 7, Asus (3.9pc); 8, Sony (1.3pc); 9 and 10, Fujitsu and Pioneer (each 0.3pc).
“Others” made up 14.6pc.
IDC hailed the Q4 results as showing the best signs yet that recovery is under way; PC sales during the quarter were at their highest level for more than a year.
The demand for Windows 7 helped drive sales, especially within the consumer market where discounting of Vista PCs and notebooks was propelled by the offer for free Windows 7 upgrades, IDC says.
Commercial shipments grew 3 per cent sequentially and 10 per cent year-on-year. Consumer PC shipments grew 11 per cent sequentially and 10 per cent year-on-year, outstripping the commercial sector and exceeding market expectations.
Apple continued to perform strongly with swift sales of refreshed iMac all-in-one PCs and new 13-inch MacBooks. The sales were driven by lower price points, which IDC says threaten the price points of traditional PCs.
