Market watcher IDC has warned that the PC market has continued to slide, dropping in the second quarter by a whopping 11.8 per cent year-on-year - around a percentage point higher than previous worst-case estimates.
While the traditional PC is still far from dead, a near-12 per cent drop is certainly concerning for anyone within the industry. IDC, however, is still predicting a turnaround for the market as it bottoms out later this year: 'Although the second quarter decline in PC shipments was significant, and slightly more than expected, the overall trend fits with expectations,' claimed Loren Loverde, vice president, of the Worldwide PC Trackers & Forecasting division of IDC. 'We continue to expect low to mid-single digit declines in volume during the second half of the year with volume stabilising in future years.'
One potential highlight for the market, of course, is just around the corner: the launch of Microsoft's latest Windows operating system later this month. 'We're expecting the Windows 10 launch to go relatively well, though many users will opt for a free OS upgrade rather than buying a new PC,' Loverde explained. 'Competition from 2-in-1 devices and phones remains an issue, but the economic environment has had a larger impact lately, and that should stabilise or improve going forward.'
In the same report, IDC highlighted Chinese tech giant Lenovo as the world's largest PC maker having shipped 13.4 million units in the second quarter - up one per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 7.5 per cent year-on-year. HP held its second place with 12.3 million units shipped, 10.4 per cent decline year-on-year, while Dell (9.6 million, 8.7 per cent decline) and Acer (4.3 million, representing a horrific 26.9 per cent decline year-on-year) also made the top five.
The only real success story comes from Apple: not only was it the only company in IDC's charts to show growth, it's extremely healthy growth: a 16.1 per cent increase in shipments year-on-year to 5.1 million, boosting its overall market share from 5.9 per cent to 7.8 per cent and propelling it into fourth place above Acer (6.6 per cent) and Asus (6.5 per cent).
'Moving forward, we expect a healthy second half as inventory and purchase decisions pick up following the launch of Windows 10,' concluded analyst Ranjani Singh in the report. 'Emerging product categories will remain a bright spot as attention shifts to convertibles and Chromebooks in the commercial as well as consumer segments.'
While the traditional PC is still far from dead, a near-12 per cent drop is certainly concerning for anyone within the industry. IDC, however, is still predicting a turnaround for the market as it bottoms out later this year: 'Although the second quarter decline in PC shipments was significant, and slightly more than expected, the overall trend fits with expectations,' claimed Loren Loverde, vice president, of the Worldwide PC Trackers & Forecasting division of IDC. 'We continue to expect low to mid-single digit declines in volume during the second half of the year with volume stabilising in future years.'
One potential highlight for the market, of course, is just around the corner: the launch of Microsoft's latest Windows operating system later this month. 'We're expecting the Windows 10 launch to go relatively well, though many users will opt for a free OS upgrade rather than buying a new PC,' Loverde explained. 'Competition from 2-in-1 devices and phones remains an issue, but the economic environment has had a larger impact lately, and that should stabilise or improve going forward.'
In the same report, IDC highlighted Chinese tech giant Lenovo as the world's largest PC maker having shipped 13.4 million units in the second quarter - up one per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 7.5 per cent year-on-year. HP held its second place with 12.3 million units shipped, 10.4 per cent decline year-on-year, while Dell (9.6 million, 8.7 per cent decline) and Acer (4.3 million, representing a horrific 26.9 per cent decline year-on-year) also made the top five.
The only real success story comes from Apple: not only was it the only company in IDC's charts to show growth, it's extremely healthy growth: a 16.1 per cent increase in shipments year-on-year to 5.1 million, boosting its overall market share from 5.9 per cent to 7.8 per cent and propelling it into fourth place above Acer (6.6 per cent) and Asus (6.5 per cent).
'Moving forward, we expect a healthy second half as inventory and purchase decisions pick up following the launch of Windows 10,' concluded analyst Ranjani Singh in the report. 'Emerging product categories will remain a bright spot as attention shifts to convertibles and Chromebooks in the commercial as well as consumer segments.'
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