GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says U.S. and Europe Boost 1998 Worldwide PC Growth

San Jose, Calif., January 29, 1999—The worldwide personal computer industry growth rate of 15 percent in 1998 was led by strong demand in the United States and Europe, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT). The U.S. and European PC markets accounted for nearly 65 percent of PC shipments in 1998.

"Affordability and growing relevance of Internet content is sustaining double-digit PC growth in the U.S.," said Bill Schaub, vice president for Dataquest's Personal Computing and Peripherals group. "Dataquest's latest survey suggests that as many as 37 percent of U.S. households are now connected to the Internet."

Compaq continued to lead the worldwide PC industry with nearly a 14 percent market share in 1998 (see Table 1). IBM held onto the No. 2 position, but Dell decreased the gap between the two vendors as Dell grew 65 percent in 1998. Hewlett-Packard, focusing on margins, finished the year strongly with 25.5 percent growth in 1998.

Direct model vendors Dell and Gateway posted the strongest increase in the United States in 1998, with growth rates of 61 percent and 38 percent, respectively (see Table 2). "Dell has now posted 13 consecutive quarters of 50 percent-plus growth, leveraging its business model to ensure that they are the price leader in the professional market," Mr. Schaub said. "The U.S. market experienced a convergence of several cyclical growth factors, which included the mobile market replacement cycle and strong consumer and commercial desktop demand."

These results are preliminary at this time. Finalized market share statistics, as well as the forecast for the PC industry, will be discussed during the upcoming GartnerGroup's Dataquest Predicts 99 Conference to be held March 22-24 at the San Diego Hyatt. Dataquest analysts will provide their outlook for the PC industry as well as the other sectors of the high-technology industry. GartnerGroup's Spring Symposium/ITxpo 99 will be held concurrently at the San Diego Convention Center. Members of the press can register for the conference by contacting Josh Lefkowitz at 212-696-2000, or at jlefkowitz@tsipr.com. A complete agenda of the event is available on the GartnerGroup Web site at http://www.gartner.com/public/static/events/main.html.

Additional information on the worldwide PC market is also available in Dataquest'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. More information on this program is available on Dataquest's Web site at http://www.dataquest.com/dq/static/offer/programs/pqrg-ww.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 http://www.gartner.com.