Are PCs in decline? The latest quarter reports are rather bleak. Both Gartner, Inc. and the International Data Corporation (IDC) have announced that global
PC shipments fell for the eighth consecutive quarter. Worldwide shipments totaled roughly 68 million units, a year-on-year decline of 3.9% and 5.7% less than last year.
PC shipments have abated due to a disappointing back-to-school season and low demand, particularly in emerging markets. In “mature” markets (i.e. first world countries), the market is simply over-saturated. Consumers in “emerging” or second and third-world countries, prefer portable smartphones and phablets.
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, noted, “According to our 2016 personal technology survey, the majority of consumers own, and use, at least three different types of devices in mature markets. Among these devices, the PC is not a high priority device for the majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PCs as often as they used to.”
This is one of the many reasons back-to-school sales were so lackluster in mature markets. Parents and guardians can simply give their students a device that is already in the household, if their school does not already provide one.
IDC had a slightly more positive outlook with regards to the quarter three results. PC shipments are in an overall decline, but the results were about 3.2% ahead of projections. There were also a little under 8 million more PC shipments in the third quarter than in the second quarter. In the United States,
Chromebooks had “another banner quarter in the K-12 market.” Notebook sales were higher than expected in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, while Efforts to reduce channel inventory led to strong sales in China and India. Japan actually finally returned to positive growth after a sharp decline in 2015.