News & Opinion
Rumor Roundup
Tech Trends
General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in Mac News Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and
Apple TV news is covered in iOS News
Review. Older Macs are covered in Vintage Mac News. All prices are in US
dollars unless otherwise noted.
Purchases made through links to Amazon.com and
Apple's iTunes/iBook/App/Mac App Store support Low End Mac.
News & Opinion
Gartner: Worldwide PC Shipments Down 4.9% in Q4
2012 Signaling Structural Market Shift
PR: Worldwide PC shipments totaled 90.3 million units in the
fourth quarter of 2012, a 4.9% year-over-year decline from the fourth
quarter of 2011, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.
Analysts said the PC industry's problems point to something beyond a
weak economy.
"Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not
so much by 'cannibalizing' PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift
consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs," says Mikako
Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "Whereas as once we imagined a
world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as
personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will
shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative
and administrative tasks on a shared PC. There will be some individuals
who retain both, but we believe they will be exception and not the
norm. Therefore, we hypothesize that buyers will not replace secondary
PCs in the household, instead allowing them to age out and shifting
consumption to a tablet."
"This transformation was triggered by the availability of compelling
low-cost tablets in 2012, and will continue until the installed base of
PCs declines to accommodate tablets as the primary consumption device,"
Ms. Kitagawa said. "On the positive side for vendors, the
disenfranchised PCs are those with lighter configurations, which mean
that we should see an increase in PC average selling prices (ASPs) as
users replace machines used for richer applications, rather than for
consumption."
During the holiday season, consumers no longer viewed PCs as the
number one gift item. Given a burgeoning variety of increasingly more
attractive devices and services, consumers directed their attention
elsewhere. Analysts said there was uptake of very low priced notebooks
as a part of mega holiday deals, but this uptake did little to boost
holiday PC sales.
Neither did the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 have a significant
impact on PC shipments in the fourth quarter. Analysts said some PC
vendors offered somewhat lackluster form factors in their Windows 8
offerings and missed the excitement of touch. New products are coming
to market, and this could drive churn within the installed base.
HP regained top position in worldwide PC shipments in the fourth
quarter of 2012 (see Table 1), however the company's shipments did not
grow compared to a year ago. Analysts said HP most likely gave up a
certain margin level to gain market shares. HP was successful in
managing large retail deals targeting Microsoft's Windows 8 launch and
holiday sales in selected regions.
Note that Gartner data includes desk-based PCs and mobile PCs,
including mini-notebooks but not media tablets such as the iPad.
Lenovo dropped to the No. 2 position in the fourth quarter of 2012,
but experienced the best growth rate (8.2%) among the top five PC
vendors worldwide. Lenovo's growth exceeded regional growth rates in
North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific, but was lower than the industry
average in Latin America and Japan. In North America, Lenovo performed
well by expanding in the retail market and protecting professional
market.
In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 17.5 million units in the fourth
quarter of 2012, a 2.1% decline from the fourth quarter of 2011 (see
Table 2). Due to the tight inventory control and preparation for the
Windows 8 launch, most PC vendors were able to ship Windows 8 PCs to
the retail space. However, Gartner notes that PC sell-through was
rather weak, which leaves some level of inventory concerns for vendors
in the consumer market.
"Consumer's holiday spending went into other products and services,
and U.S. holiday sales became less important for PC sales. For
professionals, the fourth quarter is typically a good sales season
because of last minutes PC purchases before the tax year-end. Our early
research indicates that there was good growth in professional PC
sales," Ms. Kitagawa said.
PC shipments in EMEA totaled 28.1 million units in the fourth
quarter of 2012, a 9.6% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2011 (see
Table 3). Western Europe remained the weak point across EMEA, as
Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa saw growth
quarter-on-quarter.
"The PC market continues to face many headwinds. The launch of
Windows 8 had no impact on PC demand, especially as Ultramobile
products were both limited in supply, as well as being priced too
high," says Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "The holiday
season mostly saw retailers clearing Windows 7 notebook inventory or
driving volume of low-end notebooks. Furthermore, the increasing choice
of tablets at decreasing price points no doubt became a favorite
Christmas present ahead of PCs."
"In the fourth quarter of 2012, mobile PC shipments decreased 11%
while desktop PC shipments declined 6% year-on-year," comment Isabelle
Durand, another Gartner principal research analyst. "However,
all-in-one form factor models from Asus, Lenovo and HP look like a
promising platform for the future."
HP retained the No. 1 position in the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks
to good results across all products in the professional PC segment.
Dell performed weakly, losing nearly 2% share in the fourth quarter of
2012. Among the top five vendors, only Lenovo showed year-on-year
growth and its strong performance in the quarter helped it displace
Acer from the No. 2 position.
In the second half of 2012, the EMEA PC market experienced two
consecutive quarters of decline, resulting in overall shipments for
2012 declining 2.8% from 2011. Western Europe lost another 10% of
volume, indicating likely structural changes to the market rather than
weak demand.
PC shipments in Asia/Pacific totaled 29.9 million units in the
fourth quarter of 2012, a 1.8% decline from the fourth quarter of 2011.
Vendors struggled to offer compelling products to convince buyers to
upgrade and attract new buyers as consumers' interest continues to be
on smartphones and tablets. The introduction of Windows 8 met with
lukewarm response and availability was primarily on the higher-end
models, which were priced beyond the mainstream price point for volume
sales.
For the year, PC shipments were 352.7 million units, a 3.5% decline
from 2011 (see Table 4). HP retained the top spot in the global PC
market, accounting for 16% of the market. Lenovo was the No. 2 vendor
with 14.8% market share. Asus showed the strongest growth among the top
five vendors, with shipments increasing 17.1%.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available
soon to clients of Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by
Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture
of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution,
marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and
their future implications around the globe.
Rumor Roundup
Apple's 2013 Predictions: Multiple iPhones, Retina
iPad Mini, All-Retina MacBook Pros
MacRumors' Eric Slivka reports that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi
Kuo, who has a very good track record in predicting Apple's product
plans, has issued a new research report outlining his expectations for
Apple's 2013 product launches. Kuo believes that Apple will focus its
launches on the third quarter of this year, with a number of updates
throughout the company's various product families.
Highlights:
- Both an iPhone 5S with A7 SoC and a revamped iPhone 5 around June
or July
- iPad and iPad mini updates during the Q313 - iPad mini getting a
Retina display, full-size iPad will considerably slimmer and
lighter
- Good-bye non-Retina MacBook Pro line; all-Retina MBP lineup at
cheaper price points than current Retina models
- No Retina displays for MacBook Air in 2013; Haswell silicon main
Air upgrade
- No Retina displays for iMac in 2013. He simply predicts a shift
to
- Haswell for iMac and Mac mini in Q4
- Silent on Mac Pro
- Fifth-generation, cheaper, less capable iPod touch
AppleInsider also has a report on Mr. Kuo's forecast.
Link: Apple's 2013
Product Roadmap Predictions: Multiple iPhones, Retina iPad Mini,
All-Retina MacBook Pros
Tech Trends
Lenovo Yoga 13 Convertible Offers 4 Form Factor
Variations
Lenovo Yoga 13 in laptop mode.
PR: Lenovo's Yoga 13 combines the productivity of an
Ultrabook with the touch experience of a tablet, taking full advantage
of Windows 8's touch functionality. The screen flips a full 360 degrees
into four modes that make it easy to create, share, or consume
content.
10-Finger Multitouch Touchscreen Technology
Lenovo Yoga 13 in tent mode.
Lenovo Motion Control uses the webcam as an input device, allowing
you to easily flip pages, rewind/forward music, change the volume, and
gesture other simple commands.
Long Battery Life and Standby Time
Lenovo Yoga 13 in stand mode.
Cycle through Yoga's four modes with Lenovo Transition, a technology
that automatically switches system settings and locks the keyboard in
place
Other Yoga Features
- Integrated 720p HD webcam
- USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, USB 2.0, and 3-in-1 card reader
- InstantResume to wake from sleep mode in one second
- HD graphics support with HDMI output to connect to a TV or
monitor
- Lenovo Cloud storage to access your files from all your
devices
- OneKey Rescue for fast recovery and protection
Lenovo Yoga 13 flexibility.
With four modes, you get four ways to use Windows 8 apps:
- Laptop Mode - get down to work with Microsoft Office. Or stay
organized with Evernote.
- Tablet Mode - read on, or browse the Web with the touch of a
finger
- Tent Mode set up in the kitchen to reference recipes with
iCookBook.
- Stand Mode - entertainment to go.
IdeaPad Yoga 13 starts at $1,049, with upmarket models selling for
$1,329 and $1,499.
Link: IdeaPad Yoga
13
A Meditation on the Portable PC: The Register
Reviews Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13
The Register's Bob Dormon says that strictly speaking reviewing,
Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga shouldn't really be all about Windows 8, and
that the touchscreen Ultrabook that bends over backwards to become a
fully fledged tablet is a well crafted piece of hardware with
engineering merits of its own. The thing is, however, that without
Windows 8 as an enabler of Yoga's touch features, it and a gaggle
of other touch and type convertible laptops wouldn't need to exist
either.
Dormon says he's gotten past his initial "toe-curling hatred of
Microsoft's new OS," and that using the Yoga IdeaPad 13, which made it
easier to understand the "Modern Interface" mindset, helped. He
observes that Windows 8 without a touchscreen is tedious, but
using it on purpose-built hardware isn't all that bad, and that Lenovo
has done an elegant job of incorporating convertible PC attributes with
the Yoga, with which you can still have a tablet, but also a real PC
laptop with a decent - albeit undersized - keyboard, although
unfortunately not the spill resistant sort found on the company's
ThinkPad laptops and not backlit, and a 10 x 7cm trackpad that utilizes
a Synaptics ClickPad control panel that enables a variety of gestures
from pinch-to-zoom to two finger right clicking and scrolling.
Consequently, rather than being obliged to use the horrible
body-English of reaching over the keyboard to manipulate a
vertically-oriented touchscreen, you can do the requisite touch stuff
with the trackpad.
Dormon also notes that convertible laptops inevitably come with the
consequence of grubby, greasy, smeary screens - 1600 x 900 resolution
in this instance.
He also observes that Lenovo has followed Apple in dumping an
ethernet port along with the internal optical drive, and it tried out
Ubuntu Linux on the Yoga.
Link: Review: Lenovo
IdeaPad Yoga 13 Windows 8 Convertible Ultrabook
Lenovo Planning Intel- and ARM-based Android
Notebook/Tablet Convertibles for Early 2013
DigiTimes' Monica Chen and Steve Shen report that having unveiled
its IdeaPad Yoga 11S notebook/tablet convertible mobile device at CES
2013, Lenovo now reportedly plans to expand its IdeaPad Yoga family by
also launching Intel- or ARM-based convertibles running Android OS in
the first half of 2013, according to industry sources.
Chen and Shen's informants say Lenovo's planned offerings will
target the Android tablet segment, fulfilling Intel's commitment to
rolling out Android-based tablets through joint efforts with
Lenovo.
The report says Lenovo's Yoga 11S will be powered by an Intel Core
i5 processor running Windows 8 with an 11.6" HD IPS panel and
10-point multitouch support, with June availability anticipated.
Link: Lenovo Planning
Intel and ARM-based Android Notebook/Tablet Convertibles Rollout in
1H13 (subscription required)
Bargain 'Books
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
