By Paul Carton

September 23, 2008

Corporate PC purchasing continues to weaken, according to the latest ChangeWave survey, and will remain sluggish for the remainder of 2008.

That's the verdict of our August 11-21 corporate buying survey of 1,947 respondents involved with IT spending in their organization. The survey focused on PC purchasing plans among businesses for the 4th Quarter. Here's what we found:

Purchasing Slowdown

For the third-consecutive quarter, we're seeing a drop in corporate PC buying going forward. The following chart shows the downtrend in both laptop and desktop planned purchases.

Just over two-thirds of IT buyers (68%) say their company plans on buying laptops next quarter, down 3-pts from May to the lowest level seen in 18 months. Similarly, just 67% say their company plans to buy desktops - down 1-pt and also at an 18-month low.

Key PC Manufacturers

Weakness in the corporate PC space continues for Dell (DELL), with planned laptop (30%; down 2-pts) and desktop purchases (31%; unchanged) at their lowest levels in more than three years.

Apple's (AAPL) corporate laptop (7%) and desktop share (5%) are both off 1-pt from their record highs reached in our May survey.

In other Apple results, 6% report their company has increased purchase plans for Apple computers for the 4th Quarter - a 2-pt drop from May. But we also note that 18% now say their company is considering Apple for a future purchase, 1-pt better than previously.

In an upbeat sign for Macs, respondents estimate that 18% of their company's workforce would choose to use a Mac if it were left up to the employees themselves - triple the 6% who are currently using Macs.

Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) share of U.S. planned purchases remains unchanged for both desktops (15%) and laptops (14%). Keep in mind, however, that about 70% of H-P's sales come from outside the U.S., whereas our surveys focus primarily on the U.S. market.

The Take Away

These bearish corporate PC spending results mirror those of other recent ChangeWave surveys.

In the current take no prisoners economic environment, corporate IT purchasers are still hitting the brakes when it comes to PC purchases - and there are no signs yet of a pick up.

At the company level, Dell continues to exhibit weakness going forward - particularly in laptops, while corporate planned purchases of Hewlett-Packard PCs remain unchanged from the previous survey.

Apple planned purchases are off 1-pt from their all-time highs, but our survey still shows big upside growth opportunities for Macs in the corporate market.

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Jim Woods co-wrote this article


Related ChangeWave PC Findings
--ChangeWave Survey Foretold Apple's Earnings Call (10/28/08)
--Spending Slowdown Catches Apple Mac Sales (10/7/08)