Gartner and IDC report another decline in PC sales
Gartner has reported 7.7% of decline in world wide PC sales in third quarter of 2015 while IDC reported 10.8% of decline. In USA though, IDC reports 0.7% decline in sales while Gartner reported 1.3% of increase in sales. One thing is clear, Windows 10 has not caused interest in personal computer sales (yet). Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and Acer round off the top 5 in worldwide sales while HP, Dell, Apple, Lenovo and ASUS(Gartner)/Toshiba(IDC) round off the top 5.
“The global PC market has experienced price increases of around 10 percent throughout the year, due to the sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar against local currencies. In the third quarter of 2015, this continued to be a major cause for weaker demand in those regions,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “These impacted regions, which include EMEA, Japan and Latin America, posted double-digit declines in the third quarter. Asia/Pacific and the U.S. were more stable.”
“This change in consumer preferences toward PCs was visible in the preliminary data, as we saw positive growth in U.S notebook and premium ultramobile shipments,” Ms. Kitagawa said. “Soft recovery is expected to start in 4Q15, as Windows 10 product refreshes start to appear. In the meantime, PC manufacturers should adjust configurations for 2016 without the impact of price hikes seen in 2015, which will lead into more stable market conditions in the upcoming year.”
“The PC market continues to contract as expected, but we remain optimistic about future shipments,” said Jay Chou, Research Manager, IDC Worldwide PC Tracker. “While PC shipments will be hampered in the short run by the availability of a free upgrade to Windows 10, the improved PC experience across user segments should drive longer-term demand for new PC hardware that is expected help stabilize the market in 2016 and beyond.”
“Still, there is some hope in the fourth quarter,” stated Linn Huang, IDC Research Director, Devices & Displays. “New designs running Windows 10 and powered by Intel’s new Skylake processors are coming to market and may represent the most compelling reason we’ve had in years for consumers to upgrade their PCs. Whether this compulsion translates into actual sales remains to be seen.”
