The PC market continues to fall spectacularly, this time setting a record for the longest duration of decline in its history after five consecutive quarters of falling shipments. Worldwide PC shipments dropped to 76 million units in the second quarter of 2013, a 10.9 percent decrease from the same period last year.
All five major PC vendors contributed to the drop this past quarter thanks to lower shipments, and so did the remaining players. HP and Lenovo continue to be neck-and-neck, although one could argue a clear winner is emerging:
Gartner says all regions showed a decline compared to a year ago. The firm highlighted the continuing fall in the Asia/Pacific region, also with five consecutive quarters of shipment decline, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) registering two consecutive quarters of double-digit decline.
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In the US, however, there were two companies that managed to brave the storm: Lenovo and Dell. Even Apple, which many consider a company that doesn’t follow industry trends, couldn’t keep up this past quarter.
While these results are preliminary, as Gartner is merely offering its estimates, the reason for these poor sales is hardly a mystery. Once again, tablets are to blame.
“We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets,” Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said in a statement. “In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC. This is also accounting for the collapse of the mini notebook market.”
See also – Canalys: Almost half a billion PCs to ship in 2013, as desktops and laptops dip but tablets grow 59% to 182.5m and Microsoft’s Ballmer says small tablets aren’t PCs
Top Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
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