Global PC shipments have declined 11.2% to 79.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the 89.1 million units shipped during corresponding period in 2012, according to a report by Gartner.
During the quarter, all regions experienced a decline in PC shipments, while EMEA reported the steepest decline at 16% to 23.3 million units.
Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said that the first quarter of 2013 was the fourth consecutive quarter that recorded a drop in worldwide PC shipments. "Consumers are migrating content consumption from PCs to other connected devices, such as tablets and smartphones," Kitagawa said.
"Even emerging markets, where PC penetration is low, are not expected to be a strong growth area for PC vendors.
Among the PC vendors, HP led the market with 14.8% market share in spite of the decrease in the volume of shipments, followed by Lenovo with 14.7% market share, whose shipments increased during the quarter.
During the quarter, Dell and Acer held the third and fourth positions with market shares of 11% and 8.6% respectively, followed by Asus with 6.8% of the total market share.
Regionally, 27.6 million units of PCs were shipped to the Asia-Pacific region, a 10.3% drop against the first quarter of 2012, while the US market experienced a 9.6% decline in PC shipments, at 14.2 million units.
Similarly, IDC reported that PC shipments registered the steepest decline in a quarter since 1994, while it agreed with Gartner that it was the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment declines.
According to IDC, worldwide PC shipment during the first quarter declined 13.9% to 76.3 million units from 88.6 million units recorded in Q1 of last year.
Despite improvement in the economic environment, shipment of PCs with Windows 8 OS have proven lacklustre. IDC programme vice president of Clients and Displays Bob O’Donnell said that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market.
"While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices." O’Donnell said.
"Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market."
