Global PC Market Contracts Nearly 12 Percent Ahead Of Windows 10 Launch
Windows 10 can’t get here soon enough. We’ve been hearing about the downturn in the PC market for years, and things haven’t gotten any better in recent quarters. With Windows 10 less than three weeks away, IDC has released its PC sales figures for Q2 showing that the industry witnessed a year-over-year decline 11.8 percent to 66.1 million units.
"Although the second quarter decline in PC shipments was significant, and slightly more than expected, the overall trend fits with expectations," said IDC’s Loren Loverde. "We continue to expect low to mid-single digit declines in volume during the second half of the year with volume stabilizing in future years.”
Looking at overall global sales, Lenovo was the market leader with 20.3 percent of the PC market. HP, Dell, Apple, and Acer rounded out the top 5 with 18.5 percent, 14.5 percent, 7.8 percent, and 6.6 percent respectively. When looking solely at the U.S market, the positions jumble up quite a bit with HP taking the top spot with a 26 percent share. Dell secured second place with 23.9 percent, while Apple, Lenovo, and Toshiba rounded out the top 5.
It would be easy to surmise that Windows 10 would result in a huge uptick in PC sales, but that likely won’t be the case says Loverde. We’re likely to see some stabilization in sales following the release of Windows 10 (which would be welcome news for PC OEMs), but don’t expect to see blockbuster hardware sales. After all, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for customers with valid Windows 7 and Windows 8 licenses. And since Windows 10’s hardware requirements aren’t exactly a heavy burden for hardware released even three or four years ago, many people won’t see the benefit in buying a new system.
"Nevertheless, moving forward, we expect a healthy second half as inventory and purchase decisions pick up following the launch of Windows 10,” added IDC analyst Rajani Singh. “Emerging product categories will remain a bright spot as attention shifts to convertibles and Chromebooks in the commercial as well as consumer segments."
