Rising PC sales failed to lift revenue in 2006

Global PC sales increased last year but revenue stayed static.

For the year, revenue generated from worldwide PC sales across the industry remained flat at $201.1bn, according to research company Gartner's early estimate. It doesn't appear 2007 will bring much change either. PC shipments will go up by 9.9 per cent, Gartner predicts, but revenue will only climb to $201.3bn.

Charles Smulders, an analyst for Gartner, said: "It is going to be a tough year."

The main culprit is price cutting. PC makers have continually tried to one-up each other with low prices to gain market share, which has depressed prices. Sony saw its market share jump in the US, Smulders noted, but after cutting prices - a move the company resisted for some time.

The customer base is also changing. In the US, PC shipments increased by only 1.2 per cent for the year and actually decreased by 3.2 per cent during the fourth quarter. Instead, growth in unit shipments is coming from emerging markets, where customers can't spend as much.

Shipments of desktops, laptops and servers with processors from AMD and Intel grew by about 10 per cent worldwide in 2006, according to Gartner figures. During the calendar year, 239.4 million PCs left factories.

HP, the largest PC maker in the world for two straight quarters, expanded its lead over rival Dell in the fourth quarter worldwide. HP also edged closer to Dell in US shipments.

Referring to the latest version of Microsoft Windows, Smulders said: "There will be some pick-up around Vista. Towards the end of the year, we may see the start of a replacement market but that is more of a 2008 issue."

The news, however, isn't bad for everyone. Some companies have learned to adapt better to the low-margin environment, and some have grown substantially faster than the market as a whole. Number one PC maker HP now has had six straight profitable quarters in PCs, Smulders said.

Acer, number four worldwide, also remained the fastest growing PC maker for the third year in a row. For the year, Acer's shipments grew by 37.1 per cent. Acer's market share in the fourth quarter stood at 6.8 per cent.

Loren Loverde, an analyst at IDC, said: "Acer has a business model that is suited to a low margin, low ASP [average selling price] market."

Toshiba, which concentrates on the healthier laptop segment, also did well in 2006. For the year on a worldwide basis, Toshiba saw shipments grow 27.3 per cent.

Apple also saw its fortunes rise. The company accounted for 4.7 per cent of the US market in the fourth quarter, growing shipments by 31.8 per cent, according to IDC. Apple is the fourth largest PC maker in the US, ranked behind Dell, HP and Gateway and barely ahead of Toshiba, according to IDC. Worldwide, Apple is ranked seventh and had a 2.4 per cent market share in the fourth quarter, Loverde said. That's up from 2.1 per cent worldwide in the fourth quarter 2005.

By contrast, Lenovo, continued to have trouble growing outside China. For 2006 as a whole, Lenovo saw its market share barely rise, from 6.9 per cent to seven per cent worldwide for the year.

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com