PC Shipments Miss Second-Quarter Forecasts, Researchers Say

July 13, 2011, 6:46 PM EDT By Adam Satariano

(Adds Gartner figures starting in first paragraph.)

July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Global personal-computer shipments rose less than forecast amid a sluggish economy and consumer preference for smartphones and Apple Inc.’s iPad media tablet, according to two market-research firms.

Shipments climbed 2.6 percent, IDC said, just shy of the 2.9 percent increase the researcher had forecast. Gartner Inc. said PC sales rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier, compared with the 6.7 percent gain the firm predicted.

Hewlett-Packard Co. remained the industry’s top PC seller, accounting for 18.1 percent of the global market, according to IDC. Dell Inc. was second with 12.9 percent, and Lenovo Group Ltd. moved up to third with 12.2 percent, IDC said.

“These preliminary results continue to reflect pressure from competing consumer and business products as well as cautious spending,” Jay Chou, a senior research analyst at Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC, said in a statement.

PC sales in the U.S. slipped 4.2 percent, hurt by falling sales for low-cost laptops and weaker demand among corporate buyers, IDC said. The comparison with 12 percent growth in last year’s second quarter made the drop seem especially steep, IDC said. Lack of purchases by budget-strapped government agencies also contributed to the decline in the U.S., Gartner said. Gartner pegged the U.S. shipment decrease at 5.6 percent.

Apple’s Gains

One exception to the slump was Apple, whose Mac sales have benefited from the popularity of its iPhone and iPad mobile devices. The Cupertino, California-based company saw shipments grow almost 15 percent in the U.S., making it the country’s third-largest PC vendor with 10.7 percent of the market, IDC said.

Apple, which introduced a new iMac line of desktop computers, jumped from fifth to third place, overtaking Acer Inc. and Toshiba Corp., according to Gartner’s report.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 84.4 million, according to IDC, while Gartner said global unit sales were 85.2 million for the quarter. Lenovo’s sales growth in the U.S. and Japan helped it overtake Acer in global shipments, making Acer the fourth- largest PC seller, IDC said.

--Editors: Jillian Ward, Tom Giles

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

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Software AG Drops as Second-Quarter Sales Miss Analyst Estimates

July 14, 2011, 4:56 AM EDT By Ragnhild Kjetland

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Software AG, Germany’s second- largest maker of business software, fell the most in two years in Frankfurt trading after reporting second-quarter sales that missed analysts’ estimates.

Revenue will be 256 million euros ($364 million) to 258 million euros, hurt by currency moves and the unexpected failure to close software-license deals, the Darmstadt-based company said late yesterday. Demand for implementation of products from SAP AG, the world’s largest maker of business-management software, fell from last year, it said. Sales had been seen at 280 million euros, the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of eight analysts.

The stock fell as much as 6.74 euros, or 16 percent, to 35.32 euros, the biggest intraday drop since April 2009, and traded 12 percent lower at 36.84 euros as of 10:32 a.m.

On July 12, Indian software exporter Infosys Ltd. forecast sales that missed analysts’ estimates as customers held off signing new contracts because of uncertainties in the global economy.

Software AG, which makes software for business transactions and offers consulting services, said it still forecasts growth in full-year sales of as much as 7 percent at constant currencies and net income to increase as much as 15 percent based on a “strong” sales pipeline.

Software AG will report complete second quarter results on July 28 and SAP will report earnings on July 25.

--Editors: Robert Valpuesta, Jerrold Colten.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ragnhild Kjetland in Frankfurt at rkjetland@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong in Berlin at kwong11@bloomberg.net

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