Both IDC and Gartner have released the latest PC shipment data for the second quarter of 2015 showing Lenovo as the leading PC vendor.
IDC said PC shipments fell 11.8 percent to 66.1 million units. Gartner said PC shipments declined 9.5 percent to 68.4 million units. PC shipments are projected to decline 4.4 percent in 2015.
Lenovo has shipped 13.4 million units, increasing the PC volume by 1 percent from the prior quarter, but down 7.5 percent from the prior year. The vendor continued to aggressively court expansion outside of Asia/Pacific, leading to share gains in the U.S. and EMEA.
Loren Loverde, vice president, Worldwide PC Trackers & Forecasting, said: “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.”
HP’s PC shipments declined 10.4 percent from a year ago. Slowing business demand and inventory control of entry notebooks contributed to the dip. While most of the slowdown was from outside of the U.S., the vendor also saw its U.S. volume contract nearly 7 percent.
Dell shipped 9.5 million units, clocking a decline of 8.7 percent. Stronger performance in Asia/Pacific and EMEA were offset by slower growth in the U.S.
Apple achieved growth of 16.1 percent. The PC vendor has avoided the price competition affecting other players and may be benefitting from some of the uncertainty around the launch of Windows 10, along with refreshed products like the 12-inch MacBook and a relative concentration of shipments in the U.S.
Acer struggled with the larger pullback in the PC market, particularly in EMEA where it had seen a rebound in mid-2014. The vendor ended 2Q14 with a volume of 4.33 million, a significant decline from the prior quarter and year ago volumes.
“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. Competition from 2-in-1 devices and phones remains an issue, but the economic environment has had a larger impact lately, and that should stabilize or improve going forward,” Loverde of IDC added.
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said: “The Windows 10 launch scheduled for Q3 2015 has created self-regulated inventory control. PC vendors and the channels tried clearing inventory as much as possible before the Windows 10 launch.”
IDC said the slow PC shipments were largely anticipated as a result of stronger year-ago shipments relating to end of support for windows XP as well as channels reducing inventory ahead of the release of Windows 10. Weaker or changing exchange rates for foreign currencies have increased PC prices in many markets.
Baburajan K
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