After eight quarters of declining shipments, worldwide personal computer shipments posted flat growth in the second quarter of 2014, according to a study by Gartner. Worldwide PC shipments totalled 75.8 million units during the quarter ended June 30, a 0.1 per cent rise from the second quarter of 2013.
“While the worldwide PC market stopped two years of declining shipments in the second quarter, there were mixed results, as stabilisation in developed markets was offset by a decline in emerging markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “The PC industry in emerging markets has been impacted by the allure of low-cost tablets. These low-cost tablets continue to take spending from new PC units, meaning that it will take more time for PC sales to stabilise in emerging markets.”
“The PC market’s installed based has been declining as buyers switched to tablets and smartphones for entertainment and social media consumption. The 2Q14 results suggest that the consumer installed base restructuring peaked during 2013. We are seeing a slowdown in premium tablet sales, which have already penetrated a large number of households. PCs are now growing off a smaller installed base of newer devices, with more engaged users. Therefore, we expect to see slow but consistent PC growth. While the end of support for Windows XP drove some of the sales in developed markets, it is the underlying business replacement cycle that will stabilise the market," Kitagawa said.
Lenovo extended its lead as the leader in worldwide PC shipments, as its worldwide market share increased to 19.2 per cent. Lenovo’s PC shipments grew by double-digits in all regions, except the Asia-Pacific. Lenovo’s shipment growth in Asia/Pacific was still faster than the regional average.
HP achieved its fastest global PC shipment increase in the last four years (since 2Q10). The quarter was the second consecutive quarter of double-digital growth for Dell’s global PC shipments, with the company benefitting from a strong PC demand.
In the US, PC shipments totalled 15.9 million units in the second quarter of 2014, a 7.4 per cent increase from the second quarter of last year. This was the second consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment growth. Both desktop and notebook PCs exhibited an increase in shipments.