CC image courtesy of Yes.aravind.
Worldwide PC shipments fell by 6.9 per cent to 82.6 million units in the fourth quarter of last year, the seventh consecutive quarter shipments have declined, according to Gartner.
HumanIPO reported in October on the sixth consecutive drop in shipments, by 8.5 per cent from the second quarter, with Gartner attributing the decline to the increasing popularity of tablets and the fact emerging markets were skipping PCs.
“Although PC shipments continued to decline in the worldwide market in the fourth quarter, we increasingly believe markets, such as the US, have bottomed out as the adjustment to the installed base slows,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.
“Strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets. In emerging markets, the first connected device for consumers is most likely a smartphone, and their first computing device is a tablet. As a result, the adoption of PCs in emerging markets will be slower as consumers skip PCs for tablets.”
PC shipments for 2013 fell to 315.9 million units, down 10 per cent decline from 2012, the worst decline in PC market history, equal to the shipment level in 2009.
As in the third quarter, Lenovo led HP at the top of the PC market, accounting for 18.1 per cent of global PC shipments. HP saw a shipments decline of 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, failing to increase its shipments in the US and Latin America. Dell remains in third position.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), PC shipments totalled 25.8 million units in the fourth quarter, a 6.7 per cent decline from the same period the year before.
“However, the decline was less steep than the last seven quarters,” Gartner said. “All areas of the region — Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa — showed a shipment decline. Shipments in Eastern Europe were driven by the professional segment, as companies had to finalize IT spending for the year.
“Consumers replaced PCs only on a needed basis, as many new form factors had limited availability or were priced about the average vs. traditional notebooks. Tablets, especially Android-based, were a popular holiday present and average selling prices (ASPs) for them continued to decline and attract consumer spending.”
