PC Shipments Down Again In Q3: Eighth Consecutive Quarter Of Decline

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has also recorded a decline, stating that worldwide shipments totalled nearly 68 million units for the quarter, down 3.9 per cent year-on-year, which it however noted was about 3.2 per cent ahead of projections.

Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner principal analyst, noted that “two fundamental issues” have impacted results in the market, “the extension of the lifetime of the PC caused by the excess of consumer devices, and weak PC consumer demand in emerging markets”.

“According to our 2016 personal technology survey, the majority of consumers own, and use, at least three different types of devices in mature markets,” Kitagawa commented.

“Among these devices, the PC is not a high-priority device for the majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PCs as often as they used to. Some may never decide to upgrade to a PC again.

“In emerging markets, PC penetration is low, but consumers are not keen to own PCs. Consumers in emerging markets primarily use smartphones or phablets for their computing needs, and they don’t find the need to use a PC as much as consumers in mature markets.”

Meanwhile, with the IDC results ahead of projections, the IDC states this reflects “competition among the market leaders and an effort to capitalise on market consolidation and future stabilisation”.

“We are very pleased to see some improvement in the market,” Loren Loverde, IDC vice president, Worldwide PC Trackers & Forecasting, stated.

“Industry efforts to update products to leverage new processors and operating systems, to deliver a better computing experience encompassing more mobile, secure and faster systems, and to accelerate PC replacements have been critical. These improvements are accumulating, and set the stage for a stronger market going forward.”

Gartner found that the top six vendors combined for a record high 78 per cent of shipments, with Lenovo continuing as the market leader, with HP nearly tied for top spot (Gartner notes that these rankings could change when final shipment results are published).

Lenovo has recorded six consecutive quarters of year-on-year shipment declines, while HP and Dell have recorded shipment growth since the 2016 second quarter, Gartner stated.