Tablets hurt PC sales

The hype surrounding the iPad and other tablets is starting to have an impact on purchases of personal computers as consumers struggle to decide which device to buy, the latest data suggest.

Sales of PCs grew much less than expected in the third quarter as consumers delayed buying while they considered whether to purchase a tablet instead, according to Gartner. The research firm said that global PC shipments grew 7.6 per cent to 88.3m units in the third quarter of this year, compared to a forecast rise of 12.7 per cent.

Gartner and IDC, another research group, said there was evidence that the hype around tablets was causing customers to take a “wait and see” approach to buying PCs. Also, continued economic volatility in the US and the threat of public spending cuts in western Europe was also affecting consumer confidence and spending patterns.

“Apple has raised the profile of the tablet,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. However, analysts said there was little evidence that tablets were directly cannibalising PC sales.

Compared to the hype around the iPad, PC vendors did not have any big releases to help market their products as they did with Windows 7 last year.

Vendors also suffered as retailers that overstocked in the netbook category at the beginning of the year held back from making further purchases to see if tablets would take off.

“Those buying tablets are early adopters who already own multiple devices,” said Mr Atwal. IDC said PC shipments rose 11 per cent to 89.7m, 3 percentage points below its expectations.

Bob O’Donnell, vice-president for clients and displays at IDC, said there was evidence of “consumer fatigue” for notebooks and netbooks. Consumers who previously bought PCs for their home and another secondary device, may now be looking to replace netbooks with tablets.

He said that, while the iPad had had some negative impact on the netbook market, “the halo effect” of the device also helped propel Mac sales and moved Apple into the number three position in the US market behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

IDC said there were signs of a pick-up in shipments in September, somethingIntel picked out in its earnings announcement this week.

According to both IDC and Gartner, HP maintained its lead in the global PC market at about 17.5 per cent. Acer jumped into the number two slot with Dell slipping to third.