Lenovo widens lead as PC market decline slows

Trade
Lenovo A740

10 January 2014

Analysts at both Gartner and IDC reported the seventh straight quarter of declining PC shipments for the end of 2013, although both firms saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

Of the top PC vendors, Lenovo widened its lead over HP and Dell on a worldwide basis during the fourth quarter of 2013, as the Chinese PC maker was one of the few to show positive growth.

The decline of the traditional PC has become almost an accepted fact, with Windows 8 an Windows 8.1 having failed to stem the tide of users rushing to tablets and phones. IDC reported that PC market slipped 5.6% to 82.2 million units, better than the 6% that the firm expected. Gartner said that the dip was 6.9% from a year ago, to 82.6 million units.

Still, both market research firms at least spoke somewhat positively about the future. “Although PC shipments continued to decline in the worldwide market in the fourth quarter, we increasingly believe markets, such as the US, have bottomed out as the adjustment to the installed base slows,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “Strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets. In emerging markets, the first connected device for consumers is most likely a smartphone, and their first computing device is a tablet. As a result, the adoption of PCs in emerging markets will be slower as consumers skip PCs for tablets.”

For 2013, IDC said, total PC shipments declined 10%, as consumers continued to take a wait-and-see attitude. “Total shipments have now declined for seven consecutive quarters, and even the holiday shopping season was unable to inspire a turn in consumer spending,” Loren Loverde, an analyst at IDC, said in a statement.

Both firms reported that while Lenovo increased worldwide PC sales during the fourth quarter, HP, which was in second place, saw units shipments fall. IDC said that Lenovo’s sales grew 9% to 15.3 million units, or an 18.6% market share. HP saw sales fall by 8.5% to 13.8 million units, or 16.8% share. Dell saw sales grow about 5.8%, giving it 12.2% market share. Acer’s sales plunged more than 21%, giving it 6.4% of the market, slightly higher than Asus, at 6.1% market share.

IDG News Service

Read More:


Back to Top ↑

TechCentral.ie