gartner

Apple's a semiconductor shopaholic, Gartner says

Apple was the top semiconductor buyer in the world last year, according to new research from Gartner.

In a report issued today, the firm said that Apple outspent the rest of the industry with $17.3 billion spent in 2011. That's up sharply from the the $12.8 billion Apple spent in 2010.

The move puts Apple on top of Samsung Electronics and Hewlett-Packard, companies that came ahead of it in 2010's list. Samsung kept its number two spot from Gartner's study last year, and while not matching Apple's 34.6 percent growth year over year, … Read more

PC shipments slump in 2011 fourth quarter

PC shipments came in 1.4 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2011 than in 2010 with a total of 92.2 million PC shipments worldwide, Gartner announced today.

The research company said that even though PC market growth is healthy, the fourth quarter had unusually weak holiday demand.

"While economic uncertainty in Western Europe had an effect on consumer PC shipments, expectations of a healthier economic outlook in North America could not stimulate consumer PC demand in that region," said Gartner principal analyst Gartner Mikako Kitagawa in a statement. "The healthy professional PC market as … Read more

Gartner lowers global IT spending forecast for 2012

The outlook for IT spending this year isn't quite as rosy as Gartner previously predicted.

Spending on IT products and services is expected to reach $3.8 trillion in 2012, a 3.7 percent rise from last year when spending totaled $3.7 trillion and had climbed by 6.9 percent from 2010.

Released today, the new forecast is a dip from Gartner's prior projection of 4.6 percent growth for this year. The market researcher now believes that all major tech sectors will witness slower gains in spending for 2012.

Spending on telecom equipment will see the … Read more

HP expands lead in PC shipments, Apple gains in U.S.

Hewlett-Packard increased its share of global PC shipments in the third quarter, maintaining its No. 1 ranking, while Apple made sharp gains in the U.S. market.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 91.8 million units in the third quarter of 2011, a 3.2 percent increase from the third quarter of 2010, according to preliminary results by Gartner released today.

HP grew faster than the industry average globally, with its market share reaching 17.7 percent (see top chart)--despite announcing in the middle of the quarter that it may spin off its PC business, according to Gartner. HP also … Read more

HP's killer business PC Rolodex

Hewlett-Packard has a Rolodex of business PC customers that rivals would kill to have.

Fortunately, Tuesday's news that HP may not spin off its PC business means cooler, wiser heads are prevailing.

HP executives must know the obvious. That Dell, Lenovo, and increasingly Apple are happy to pick off its high-value Fortune 500 customers in the midst of uncertainty. Those are the customers who buy the pricier HP business PCs (EliteBooks, ProBooks etc.) and often purchase the even pricier servers that the PCs are tethered to.

And HP's fast fact page makes the nexus between business PCs and … Read more

Microsoft tells companies on XP not to wait for Windows 8

Microsoft is urging businesses still stuck on Windows XP not to wait for Windows 8 and instead make the move to Windows 7 now.

In a blog posted Monday, Microsoft's Rich Reynolds explained the need for companies to move to Windows 7 as Windows XP will no longer be supported after April 2014.

Though 2014 sounds like a long ways off, businesses typically need a fair amount of time for any type of major migration. Planning, testing, user training, and the actual rollout can easily chew up the better part of a year or sometimes more.

The ending of … Read more

Growth in PC shipments turns anemic, researcher says

A storm of trouble is forcing research firm Garter to revise its 2011 and 2012 PC shipment forecasts, the company announced today.

Previously, Gartner estimated that worldwide PC shipments in 2011 and 2012 would grow 9.3 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively, over year-earlier figures. However, the research firm has now revised that forecast down to 3.8 percent growth for 2011 and 10.9 percent growth in 2012. According to Gartner, 352 million PC ships will ship this year, while 404 million will be sent out next year.

The problem, Gartner said, is that the world is suffering … Read more

Post-HP: Dell or Apple?

If Hewlett-Packard exits the PC business as planned, the U.S. is down to two major laptop makers, Dell and Apple. And the two couldn't be more different.

Apple: Apple is more about the iPhone and iPad these days and less about the Mac. And the core of its Mac lineup now is arguably the MacBook Air, which doesn't look or act like a traditional laptop.

The Air is getting smaller (11.6 inches), lighter (2.3 pounds)--and, matched with OS X Lion, offers an iPad-like interface. The iPad, on the other hand, will evolve into a … Read more

Apple gains as PC shipments tumble in Europe

Market researcher Gartner said the PC market in Western Europe declined 19 percent in the second quarter of 2011, but Apple was the only top five vendor to show growth.

PC shipments in Western Europe came to 12.7 million units in the second quarter of 2011, down 18.9 percent from the same period in 2010, according to research note from Gartner today. Meanwhile, Apple managed to eke out a modest 0.5 percent growth, Gartner said.

"The PC market in Western Europe suffered from weak demand in both the professional and consumer sectors, a market which also … Read more

Gartner: Windows 7 on 42 percent of PCs by year's end

Two years after its official debut, Windows 7 will finally become the leading operating system around the world by the end of 2011, says a report out today from Gartner.

Before the year is over, the current flavor of Windows is expected to show up on 42 percent of all PCs globally. Further, Gartner's latest research shows that 94 percent of all new computers shipped this year will come with Windows 7, leading to almost 635 million new Windows 7 PCs in 2011 alone.

Recent stats from Net Applications found that Windows XP was finally losing some of its … Read more