Fourth quarter decline for Euro PCs

Global PC shipments came in at 92.7 million units in Q4 of 2011, down 0.2% compared to the same quarter in 2010, according to IDC. The EMEA PC market continued to contract for the fourth consecutive quarter, although the decline was not as strong as previously expected.

The market remained adversely impacted by the ongoing debt crisis in the Euro-zone, which led to more cautious business investments, while consumers' budget continued to be captured by media tablets and smartphones, particularly in Western Europe. Due to the sustained weakness in demand, the impact of the HDD shortage was moderate in 4Q11, and key players managed to secure the supplies they needed.

The 4Q11 results reflected a year-on-year decline of 0.2% for the quarter and growth of 1.6% for the full year. This was in-line with IDC projections of a 0.6% decline for the fourth quarter and 1.5% growth for all of 2011.

Despite the supply chain constraints wrought by the flooding in Thailand, most regions slightly exceeded forecast, and most Tier 1 PC vendors had access to sufficient HDD supply, though smaller PC vendors and retail channels experienced drive shortages.

"Europe and Asia/Pacfic came in a little stronger than expected, reflecting improvement in key markets and the strength of underlying demand in emerging regions," said Loren Loverde, vice president, Worldwide Consumer Device Trackers at IDC. "However, the industry still needs to work through some key hurdles in 2012, including recovery of HDD supply, the launch of Windows 8, and successful evolution of PC design to become still more mobile. Despite the challenges, the industry appears to be on the right path, and will be poised for substantial double-digit growth after working through these issues in 2012."