Merrill Lynch said April PC demand slowed ahead of sluggish summer months, but noted that Macintosh computers were "hot". Merrill said notebooks remained a hot item in April mostly due to lower average selling prices.
Hewlett-Packard continues to lose unit shelf space as its Compaq-branded desktops are under-represented," the research firm said.
"HP-branded units lost share in desktops but gained slightly in notebooks." Total PC inventory levels fell back below normal levels the firm said.
At the Best Buy outlets that Merrill visited, weeks of desktop inventory declined in April while remaining flat for notebooks. Activity levels "remained extremely high" at Apple Computer retail stores Merrill visited. Dell promotions were relatively flat in April but up from February levels "suggesting a slightly weaker consumer demand environment," Merrill said.
"Flat panel upgrades have been more frequent than memory since prices have declined dramatically over the last year."
The firm noted that Advanced Micro Devices processors continue to lose share in desktops and checks showed that about 12% of all desktops displayed carried AMD processors, down from an average 23% since last July.
The lack of AMD-equipped offerings from HP contributed to most of the decline, although Gateway recently has stepped up its AMD offerings to help reduce costs and compete with value vendors, Merrill said.
By: Forbes.com (Source)
Hewlett-Packard continues to lose unit shelf space as its Compaq-branded desktops are under-represented," the research firm said.
"HP-branded units lost share in desktops but gained slightly in notebooks." Total PC inventory levels fell back below normal levels the firm said.
At the Best Buy outlets that Merrill visited, weeks of desktop inventory declined in April while remaining flat for notebooks. Activity levels "remained extremely high" at Apple Computer retail stores Merrill visited. Dell promotions were relatively flat in April but up from February levels "suggesting a slightly weaker consumer demand environment," Merrill said.
"Flat panel upgrades have been more frequent than memory since prices have declined dramatically over the last year."
The firm noted that Advanced Micro Devices processors continue to lose share in desktops and checks showed that about 12% of all desktops displayed carried AMD processors, down from an average 23% since last July.
The lack of AMD-equipped offerings from HP contributed to most of the decline, although Gateway recently has stepped up its AMD offerings to help reduce costs and compete with value vendors, Merrill said.
By: Forbes.com (Source)