HP delivers more PCs at higher prices but fears CPU shortages

HP’s Personal Systems has seen its quarterly revenue and operating profit increase as it shipped more laptops and desktops and increased the average selling price. CPU shortages will hinder further growth for the foreseeable future.

The Personal Systems division had revenue of $10.1 billion in HP’s fiscal fourth quarter, up 11 percent from last year. According to the manufacturer, several regions worldwide and multiple product segments performed well, with both consumer and business sales increasing 11 percent. In notebook sales, sales grew 14 percent, for desktops it was 6 percent and with workstations, HP achieved a 10 percent increase in sales. HP claims to have a 22.5 percent share of the PC market.

HP warns in its explanation of the quarterly figures recorded by Seeking Alpha that CPU shortages will negatively affect the results of the first half of 2019. Intel is struggling to make enough 14nm processors because 10nm production has been delayed several times and can’t begin until late 2019. HP claims to experience the consequences of this from now on and not to be able to purchase enough processors, which would involve both cheaper and more expensive CPUs. When asked whether HP could benefit from its strong ties to AMD, as one of the major buyers of AMD chips, the company replied that “there are certainly segments and regions where AMD’s offering could be an attractive alternative.”