A Gartner report says that worldwide shipments of PCs fell in all regions during the second quarter of this year – a fall of 10.9 percent and the fifth consecutive decline.
And, if Gartner analysts are to be believed, the day of the PC is over, with a shrinking installed base of PCs. Mikato Kitagawa, principal analyst at the company, said: “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.”
Lenovo pipped HP at the post, but showed a decline in the Asia Pacific region. HP however, still leads in the USA, Latin America, and APAC.
76 million units shipped in the second quarter, but worldwide, Acer’s growth dropped by 35.3 percent, while Asus also see a decline of 20.5 percent.
Dell also fell, but showed steady growth in the USA and Japan.
Kitigawa, however, doesn’t think Windows 8 is responsible for the slowing shipments. However, the impending end of support for Windows XP helped to grow PC sales in the US enterprise sector.
Victor Basta, MD at M&A firm Magister, believes the PC era ended some time ago. He said: “If you’re a store chain called PC World you might want to rethink your brand quickly if you want to be associated with the future of technology rather than antiquity.” He also warned poor sales of PCs would cast a cloud over the Dell deal.
