In fourth-quarter 2009, while Acer posted global shipments of 9.5 million notebooks, Hewlett-Packard (HP) shipped a whopping 11.38 million laptops worldwide in fourth-quarter, widening the gap between the two from their narrowest gap of 1.05 million units in the preceding quarter according to industry sources citing IDC statistics.
According to the sources, Acer shipped 8.86 million notebooks in the third quarter of 2009, while HP moved 9.91 million units. In the North America market, the two vendors’ shipment performance was the key for the widening since HP had a series of sales promotions during the holiday season. They slashed the price of a notebook model to a price below US$300 to catch consumers.
Acer, facing and mature netbook market and less demand for ultra-thin notebooks managed only 7% sequential growth in the fourth quarter.
For this year 2010, HP is planning to ship 44 million notebooks, while Acer is aiming to reveal mainstream notebooks in ultra-thin designs to drive shipments beyond its original goal of 40 million units.
I hope there will be strong sales from both companies in the holiday shopping season.
