Lenovo tops PC makers

Lenovo Group held on to its position as the world’s No. 1 personal computer maker in the latest quarter despite a drastic dip in its core Chinese market, according to figures published by tech research firm Gartner on Wednesday.

Overall, the latest numbers showed an 8.6 percent decline in PC sales in the third quarter, confirming a worldwide trend towards tablets that has benefited Apple Inc and Google Inc but hurt traditional PC stalwarts Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.3 million in the latest three month period, the lowest level since 2008, Gartner said, despite the ‘back to school’ season when sales traditionally spike.

Europe, Middle East and Africa was the worst hit region, with a 13.7 percent decline in PC sales, followed by Asia Pacific with an 11.2 percent decline. The U.S. market increased 3.5 percent, helped by low inventories being re-stocked and the popularity of models featuring the latest Intel chips, Gartner said.

“Consumers’ shift from PCs to tablets for daily content consumption continued to decrease the installed base of PCs both in mature as well as in emerging markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “A greater availability of inexpensive Android tablets attracted first-time consumers in emerging markets, and as supplementary devices in mature markets.”

Strong sales in the United States and Europe helped Chinese PC maker Lenovo hold onto the top spot among manufacturers, offsetting the decline in Asia.

Lenovo’s overall shipments rose 2.8 percent over a year ago to give the company a 17.6 percent share of the global market.

Former No. 1 Hewlett-Packard Co, which is being remodeled by Chief Executive Meg Whitman, posted a 1.5 percent growth in shipments for a 17.1 percent global market share. It was H-P’s first positive shipment growth figure since the first quarter of 2012. Whitman said on Wednesday that she expected to stabilize revenues next year as she continues her work to reverse the company’s fortunes.

source: interaksyon.com

Lenovo knocks HP from top of global PC market: Gartner

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG — China’s Lenovo Group Ltd edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world’s No. 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.

A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead – but by less than half a percentage point – in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HP’s struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over 8 percent in the third quarter to 87.5 million, the steepest decline since 2001, Gartner analysts said.

PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.

“It’s quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsoft’s) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalisation of tablet PCs is also another factor,” said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei.

Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwan’s Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from U.S. competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No. 3 spot in the quarter.

Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector.

“We are establishing even deeper roots in each major market around the world. In addition to localized sales and distribution teams in major markets, we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint,” Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.

This year the company has bought Brazilian electronics maker CCE, valued at a base price of 300 million reais ($148 million), and U.S. cloud computing firm Stoneware.

China’s tech rise

Lenovo’s rise highlights the advance of China’s technology firms on the world stage in recent years as a result of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions, and taking advantage of a fast-growing home market.

The Chinese company, which vaulted into the PC market by buying IBM’s personal computer division in 2005, took the top spot for the first time by growing its market share to 15.7 percent, shipping an estimated 13.77 million units during the quarter, up nearly 10 percent from a year ago, Gartner said.

HP’s global PC share stood at 15.5 percent after shipping 13.55 million units, down 16.4 percent from a year ago, Gartner said, adding that this was the first time HP has not been the top-ranked PC vendor position since 2006.

IDC had HP at the No. 1 spot with a 15.9 percent market share, marginally ahead of Lenovo’s 15.7 percent share.

HP responded to Gartner’s study by saying IDC’s was more expansive.

“While there are a variety of PC share reports in the market, some don’t measure the market in its entirety,” HP said in a statement. “The IDC analysis includes the very important workstation segment, and therefore is more comprehensive.”

HP shares closed 1.32 percent lower at $14.18 on Wednesday, after touching $14.02, its lowest level since October 2002.

Lenovo’s shares ended up 0.3 percent on Thursday, compared with a 0.4 rise in the benchmark Hong Kong index.

Since the start of 2012, Lenovo’s shares have risen more than 9 percent, in contrast to a roughly 40 percent drop in HP’s stock, a 35 percent fall in Dell and Acer’s 21 percent slide.

Analysts say PC makers are suffering from still-sluggish growth in consumer and corporate spending across the globe, even in once-reliably hot markets like China, Lenovo’s home turf. The industry’s future is uncertain, partly because of a proliferation of computing devices from tablets of all sizes to smartphones.

“PCs are going through a severe slump,” said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC’s Worldwide PC Tracker.

“A weak global economy as well as questions about PC market saturation and delayed replacement cycles are certainly a factor, but the hard question of what is the ‘it’ product for PCs remain unanswered.”

source: interaksyon.com

Dell refreshes business notebook lineup, but no new ultrabooks in sight

MANILA, Philippines — While every other PC manufacturer in the world is unveiling their fresh takes on Intel’s ultrabook, technology company Dell decided to update its arsenal of laptops with the chipmaker’s latest Ivy Bridge processors.

Yet, despite the fresh processor bump for most of its notebooks in the Latitude and Vostro lines, Dell didn’t bring in an updated version of its ultrabook, the XPS 13, which was launched locally in April.

Dell Philippines Country Manager Christopher Papa told reporters at the sidelines of the launch that updating the XPS 13 is in their roadmap, although more focus is being given on their commercial business for now.

Nonetheless, Papa said they were not expecting the strong demand for their consumer-grade XPS 13 ultrabook, a 13-inch device squeezed into an 11-inch chassis that retails from P59,000 to P79,000 depending on the internal specifications.

Without mentioning figures, the Dell head honcho said they had to ramp up production of the sought-after notebook after initial shipments to various markets around the world failed to meet consumer demand.

But gaining market share in the consumer PC segment is far from Dell’s objectives moving forward, as declared by Papa in an earlier interview saying the company is focusing on high-margin segments of the business, particularly the enterprise market.

It is for this reason that majority of the products launched by Dell on Thursday are geared toward SMBs and large enterprises, two segments that are high-growth areas for the Round Rock, Texas-based company.

“Today’s launch is a testament to our commitment to end-user computing, and we have differentiated ourselves by adding more value to our products,” said Richard Teo, president at Dell Philippines.

“We have added a lot of technologies that surround manageability, security and system management to allow users to have full control of their units,” he added.

Durable, business-class notebooks

Bannering the new notebook offerings are the redesigned and re-engineered laptops in the Latitude line, targeted at enterprise-class customers, which feature the same look and feel as their predecessors but come fitted with Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors.

Johny Dermawan, senior brand manager at Dell South Asia, said the new Latitude laptops are “designed to be durable” considering the mobile needs of most workers today.

By tearing down one Latitude unit in front of the press, Dermawan demonstrated how the internal portions of the notebook was designed, starting with the magnesium alloy bottom cover that acts as the doorway to all of the unit’s components.

The new Latitude laptop’s internal parts and LCD screen are protected by a tri-metal chassis that keeps them in place and absorbs unintentional external pressure, which Dermawan said is a common occurrence with users fitting their laptops along with other things inside their bags.

The specific models unveiled by Dell on Thursday include: The redesigned 14-inch Latitude E640; the E6230, E630, E6430 and E6530 notebooks measuring 12.5 to 15.6 inches; the E5430 and E5530 which are budget-friendly options for professionals; and the ruggedized E640 ATG notebook that can withstand extreme conditions.

Meanwhile, Dell’s Vostro line of PCs, which is targeted at small and medium businesses, received the following updates: the Vostro 3360 (13 inch), Vostro 3460 (14 inch) and Vostro 3560 (15 inch), which are designed to be thin and portable.

Dell’s new Latitude laptops are now available and will start retailing from P55,100, while the Vostro notebooks can be bought beginning next week although no price points have been detailed thus far.

article source: interaksyon.com

Asus ‘surprised’ by high Ultrabook demand in price-sensitive PH market

MANILA, Philippines — Taiwanese PC vendor Asus said it did not expect the high demand for its Ultrabook line from Filipino consumers considering the steep price slapped on initial units, a local executive said recently.

Despite the quick depletion of stocks, Asus Philippines System Technical PR Eason de Guzman admitted that they are still cautious about the Ultrabook market in the Philippines, which is largely known as a price-sensitive market.

In fact, De Guzman said they only brought in about 200 for the initial batch of Asus Zenbook Ultrabooks to be sold locally, which have quickly been lapped up by consumers in about a month’s time.

Launched in November, the 13-inch Asus Zenbook UX31 retailed for P59,995, while the lower-end 11-inch UX21 model was sold for P53,995.

Despite the expensive price tag, De Guzman said consumers still went for the Ultrabook models. “The demand for the Ultrabook was really unprecedented in the Philippines,” he said. “We were a little bit hesitant of [launching] the Zenbook here, because we’re a price-sensitive market. That is why we were really shocked.”

The ASUS executive said they have plans of bringing in a fresh batch by the second week of April — around the same volume of units–along with the limited edition hot pink model.

Still, De Guzman said they have observed that consumers who are capable of buying a P40,000 computer would still opt for a high-performance one instead of the portability offered by Ultrabooks.

“They would still prefer the high-end performance notebook, even if still a little bit bulky,” he said. “People who buy Ultrabook buy it for the portability and the design.”

While Ultrabooks constitute just a minute part of the computer company’s overall sales, the executive said they are seeing big potential for the new segment “because Intel is really pushing for Ultrabooks.”

The plan, according to him, is to have Ultrabooks the standard form factor for notebooks in three years’ time. Intel had earlier announced they are seeing as much as 40 percent Ultrabook penetration by the end of 2012.

He further disclosed that they are looking to do a refresh of their Zenbook line this year, especially after the launch of Intel’s new processors. ”

“During the upgrade of Intel processors in April 29, look forward to announcement from Asus as well,” he added.

Just recently, Asus launched a hot pink version of its Zenbook UX31 Ultrabook, which brandishes a neon pink color on the lid while the inner body is coated in black. The unit’s keyboard prints are also printed in pink to make the unit stand out from its counterparts.

The hot pink Zenbook still boasts of incredible speed with 2 seconds Instant On, incredible performance with 2nd Gen Intel Core processors and incredible beauty with a 3mm
height in front and 9mm height at the back.

It will retail for P59,995 and will become available by the first week of April.

source: interaksyon.com

Acer bids for Jeremy Lin as brand ambassador

Computer vendor Acer Inc. is bidding to have rising NBA superstar Jeremy Lin as its global brand ambassador, the company's chairman said Tuesday.

Acer Chairman and CEO J.T. Wang told an Acer corporate social responsibility forum they expect Lin to choose one PC maker and endorse that brand globally.

"We have submitted a proposal. Based on our understanding, there might be about four to five PC makers around the globe that have made proposals to Lin," he said, according to a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Acer's proposal came after it announced a marketing partnership with the Knicks on March 14.

The partnership will allow Acer's logo to be featured courtside at the Knicks' home games for the rest of the 2011-12 NBA season.

But Wang declined to disclose how much Acer is offering Lin, first NBA star of Taiwanese descent.

He said Lin will discuss the matter with his family and agent before making a choice.

The Acer-Knicks partnership will give Acer mileage among the nearly 20,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden, and to TV and Internet viewers following "Linsanity."

Last January, Acer, the world's fourth largest PC maker, announced world's No. 1 female golfer Yani Tseng of Taiwan would act as its global spokeswoman.

It also disclosed it had renewed its contract with Major League Baseball Washington Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang of Taiwan, who will be the brand's spokesman in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Wang said Acer will build a pavilion at the at the London Olympics Games to host visitors and feature its products.

He said they will launch Olympics-related products in the second quarter of 2012, although the volume of the new models will be limited due to Acer's losses in 2011. — TJD, GMA News

article source: gmanetwork.com