Gartner: Global PC Shipments Fall AGAIN

Sales of PCs have fallen yet again as the market continues to struggle to rejuvenate itself, Gartner’s latest figures have revealed.

The research firm said the number of PCs shipped worldwide numbered just 68.4 million units in the second quarter of 2015, a 9.5 percent drop compared to last year.

And the numbers were even worse in Europe and the MEA regions, where shipments fell 15.7 percent compared to 2014 to total just 18.6 million units in the second quarter of 2015.

Comeback?

Overall, Gartner expects the number of PC sales to fall 4.4 percent throughout 2015, but does expect the market to recover slightly next year as several significant issues are overcome.

This includes a slump in sales following a 2014 surge in purchases as companies replaced their Windows XP-based systems after Microsoft pulled support for the software.

Similarly, many manufacturers have been reluctant to release new units ahead of the launch of Windows 10, which is expected to see a surge in new purchases .

Lenovo retained its spot as the top PC vendor worldwide in the quarter by taking 19.7 percent of the market, ahead of HP (17.4 percent), and Dell (14.0 percent), with Asus and Acer rounding out the top five.

“The weakness of desk-based PC shipments in the second quarter of 2015 is partly due to relatively large shipments in the second quarter last year when the market was driven by the end of XP support,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

“Despite inventory controls for the Windows 10 launch, mobile PC shipments grew in the quarter, which resulted in five consecutive quarters of mobile PC growth in the US. Affordable thin/light notebooks are attracting more business buyers.”

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