GartnerGroup's Dataquest Reports Mexico Surpassed Brazil for PC Shipments in the First Quarter of 1999
Dataquest's Latin America PC Program Expands Research into Puerto Rico
San Jose, Calif., May 12, 1999—Driven by very strong growth in Mexico, Latin America personal computer shipments in the first quarter of 1999 surpassed 893,000 units, a 12 percent increase over the same period last year, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE: IT). Mexico passed Brazil as the No. 1 country in the region. PC shipments in Mexico reached 284,000 units, a 60 percent increase over the first quarter of 1998. Brazil was the No. 2 country in the region with shipments reaching 237,000 units.
"Lower price points across the various PC platforms, an extraordinary commitment to IT, strong business ties with the booming U.S. economy, and a more diversified export economy than other Latin American nations, worked in favor of Mexico's robust PC shipments," said Luis Anavitarte, senior industry analyst for Dataquest's Personal Computer Quarterly Statistics Latin America program.
Compaq continued to be the No.1 vendor in the region, as it maintained its market share of more than 18 percent (see Table 1). Due to its Mexican PC sales, Acer experienced the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors during the first quarter of 1999, as its shipments grew nearly 20 percent.
Table 1
Latin America PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for First Quarter of 1999 (Actual Units)
Company Q1/98 Shipments Q1/98 Market Share (%) Q1/99 Shipments Q1/99 Market Share (%) Growth (%)
Compaq 151,293 18.9 168,188 18.8 11.1
IBM 69,670 8.7 71,584 8.0 2.7
Acer 53,524 6.7 64,117 7.1 19.7
Hewlett-Packard 72,731 9.1 63,470 7.1 -12.7
Others 451,453 56.5 525,751 58.8 16.4
Total Market 798,671 100.0 893,110 100.0 11.8
Source: Dataquest (May 1999)
Dataquest's research also shows that the recent financial crisis in Brazil affected the overall market and PC sales in Argentina. The economic recession in Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, and Peru, prompted the decline of PC shipments in all of these countries during the first quarter of 1999.
Dataquest has expanded its coverage of the Latin American PC industry, as it now provides detailed coverage for Puerto Rico. "The inclusion of Puerto Rico in our Latin America research offers the PC and related IT communities a new perspective of a medium-size market traditionally viewed by some as too small in the Latin America context," Mr. Anavitarte said. In the first quarter of 1999, Puerto Rico was the No. 5 market in the region, as shipments approached 43,000 units.
Dataquest's Personal Computer Quarterly Statistics Latin America program surveys the leading worldwide and local PC makers in Latin America. This program offers the most detailed and timely information on the Latin America market. Additional information on this program is available on Dataquest's Web site at: http://www.dataquest.com/dq/static/offer/programs/pcqslads19981130.html.
To subscribe to this program, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.dataquest.com.
GartnerGroup's Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry.
As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis, and consulting. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community serving Fortune 1000 clients from 80 locations worldwide. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at www.gartner.com.
CONTACT:
Tom McCall
+1-408-468-8312
tom.mccall@gartner.com