Dell defeats Samsung in PC monitor stakes after 7 years

Dell has moved ahead of Samsung in the worldwide PC monitor market for the first time since 2007, shipping more than 5.0 million units in the second quarter of 2013.

Total PC monitor shipments for the quarter were 33.5 million units, which was 1.6 million units more than forecast but still represented a year-over-year decline of -0.7%, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker.

"Dell grew its unit shipments by 12.7% compared to the first quarter of 2013, which vaulted the company into the number one position worldwide," says Jennifer Song, Research Analyst, Worldwide Trackers at IDC.

"However, Samsung continues to be the worldwide revenue leader, despite its declining shipment numbers.

"On a geographic basis, China remained the largest market for PC monitors with 29.2% share, followed by the U.S. with 18.4% share.

"The number three market, Brazil, trailed by some distance with 4.3% share."

Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2013, IDC is forecasting 0.7% quarter-over-quarter shipment growth to 33.8 million units.

IDC also slightly raised its total shipment forecast for 2013 from 134.4 million units to 134.7 million units, which represents a year-over-year decline of -9.7%.

By 2017, worldwide shipments are expected to drop further to 110.8 million units, lower than the previous forecast of 113.6 million units, as the adoption of mobile devices at lower price points is expected to continue.

Vendor highlights:

• Dell – Dell rose to the top position in 2Q13 with worldwide market share of 14.9% on shipments of 5.0 million units. The United States and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) regions delivered the biggest gains for Dell with 18.3% and 14.4% quarter-over-quarter growth, respectively.

• Samsung – Although Samsung now ranks number two in terms of unit shipments, it remains the number one vendor in worldwide revenue with more than $1.1 billion in 2Q13, which represents 18.5% share in total market value.

• HP – Despite being ranked number three worldwide, HP was the number one vendor in Western Europe and Canada.

• LG – LG had the biggest growth among the Top 5 vendors with a 16.6% year-over-year increase in unit shipments. LG continues to be the number one PC monitor vendor in Latin America with 27.8% share, and this past quarter it captured the top position in Central and Eastern Europe with 18.4% share.

• Lenovo – Lenovo rejoined the Top 5 vendor ranking in 2Q13 after slipping to number six in the previous quarter with a 10.0% increase in unit shipments quarter-over-quarter. It also continues to rank number one in the APeJ region with 16.6% market share and is the leading vendor in China.

Tech highlights:

• LED backlight technology adoption continues to increase with 81.6% market share in 2Q13. This represents a year-over-year increase of 21.2 percentage points.

• Screen size of 21.x-inches wide has held the largest worldwide share for the last three quarters, with 19.1% share in 2Q13.

• Aspect ratio of 16:9 continues to dominate with about 75% market share, which is more than 4 times the second most widely used aspect ratio of 16:10. Aspect Ratio 21:9 has been growing over the past year, with a 70.5% increase quarter-over-quarter in 2Q13.

• Monitors with TV tuners are expected to grow to 7.7% market share by 2017, up from 5.7% share in 2013, led by LG and Samsung with a combined market share of 95% in this category.

• While touchscreen monitors are still a small segment of the total PC monitor market at 0.3% share, Dell leads the segment with 22.5% market share.