Consumer Mobiles Drive Double-digit Growth in Canadian PC Market, According to IDC

November 3, 2004

TORONTO, Canada, November 3, 2004 – The Canadian PC market sustained its five-quarter streak of double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2004. Shipments rose 16% year over year and for the first time, broke the 1 million unit mark, according to preliminary figures released by IDC's Canadian Quarterly PC Tracker. The quarter's record performance was largely driven by the accelerated consumer adoption of notebooks during the back-to-school season spurred on by aggressive vendor pricing, a favourable Canadian dollar and excess component inventories.

"The third quarter results clearly signal that the value placed on mobility and its associated premium are reaching alignment," said Eddie Chan, research analyst for IDC's Canadian Mobile/Personal Computing & Technology programs. "With wired and wireless infrastructure being deployed across high schools and post-secondary campuses, the benefits of being portable and connected have made notebooks an integral part of the students' toolkit in their studies, and increasingly in their mobile and digital lifestyles."

The desktop market grew 8% year over year as businesses engaged in some refresh activities of their installed base. Notebook shipments posted a stellar growth rate of 36%, besting the 33% year on year rate achieved in the third quarter of 2003. The x86 server market had another outstanding quarter with growth of 38% attributed to business spending on infrastructure upgrade projects.

Vendor Highlights

Dell continued to break away from the competition leading the Canadian PC market with 24.6% share in the third quarter on growth of 37.2%. Desktops remain its foundation contributing to the majority of total sales volumes, however, notebooks have become the growth engine as it captured top honours.

HP posted total shipment growth of 4.8% in the third quarter. While desktops weighed on the company's overall performance, notebooks were the bright light during the back-to-school season. As well, the vendor was in a statistical tie with IBM for first place in the x86 server market.

IBM registered year-over-year growth of 4.9% in the third quarter, based largely on sales of their ThinkPad line of notebooks, which grew 13.2%. IBM remains focused on the commercial market, which is also evident in their strong performance in x86 servers, up over 61% from the same period a year ago.

Toshiba notebooks fell 4.8% in the third quarter. In response to product shortages from last year's double cohort phenomenon, the company shipped product to the channel a month earlier in June where it registered triple-digit growth in the second quarter.

Acer made its first appearance in the top 5 by aggressively increasing shipments into the channel, resulting in 230% growth in the third quarter. Both desktops and notebooks should perform well on the strength of its value-price proposition, which is resonating with consumers and small medium businesses.

Apple had a solid third quarter recording 23% year-over-year growth. While component and product shortages impacted shipments of its desktops, growth in notebooks more than doubled the total notebook market as iPod bundling strategies and the media blitz helped drive interest towards the Mac platform.

Top 5 Vendors, Canadian PC Shipments, Third Quarter 2004 (000s)

IDC's Canadian Quarterly PC Tracker provides a view of the key market trends and ongoing performance of the leading PC vendors operating in Canada. The program tracks the Canadian PC marketplace by vendor, form factor, brand, customer segment, distribution channel, processor class, price band, and installed base. In addition to historical analysis, research includes quarterly forecasts by form factor, customer segment, and distribution channel, supplemented with qualitative analysis.

For more information on IDC's Canadian Quarterly PC Tracker or other mobile, personal computing and technology research services, please contact Krista Elkin at 416-673-2246 or kelkin@idccanada.com.

About IDC Canada
IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. IDC Canada forecasts and provides keen insight on Canadian, in addition to worldwide, IT markets and technology trends. Using a combination of rigorous primary research, in-depth analysis, and client interaction, IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends to deliver dependable service and client advice.
More than 700 analysts in 43 countries provide global research with local content. IDC's customers comprise the world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, eBusiness companies and the financial community. Additional information can be found at www.idc.ca.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company.

All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Contact

Krista Elkin
416-673-2246
kelkin@idccanada.com

Eddie Chan
416-673-2254
echan@idccanada.com