PC shipments fall to nine year low

Two analysts have reported a sharp fall in PC shipments for the first quarter if 2016.

VentureBeat reports that Gartner says global PC shipments for the period fell 9.6 per cent to 64.8m units. It’s the first time since 2007 that the number has fallen below 65m.

IDC’s numbers were even worse, pegging the decline at 11.5per cent and 60.6m units.

Gartner reported slight growth for Asus (1.5 per cent) and Apple (one per cent), with declines for Lenovo (7.2 per cent), HP (nine per cent) and Dell (0.4 per cent). IDC reported declines for all five manufacturers.

In the short term, the PC market must still grapple with limited consumer interest and competition from other infrastructure upgrades in the commercial market,” IDC research manager Jay Chou said.

Nevertheless, IDC still projects total business IT spending to grow compared to 2015, and as we head toward the end of 2016 things should start picking up in terms of Windows 10 pilots turning into actual PC purchases.”

There is some hope that Windows 10 may somehow reverse the decline, although early data doesn’t seem promising.