Global PC shipments declined 9.5% in the second quarter of this year, the steepest fall in two years, as the industry eagerly awaits the launch of Windows 10.
According to Gartner, manufacturers shipped 68.4 million units in Q2, compared to 75.6 million units for the same period last year.
Lenovo maintained the top position in worldwide PC shipments in Q2 with a 19.7% market share. The company has, however, experienced a year-on-year shipment decline for the first time since the second quarter of 2013.
The Chinese firm shipped 13.46 million PCs in Q2, down 6.8% when compared to 14.4 units shipped in the year-ago quarter.
HP remained in the second position with a 17.4% market share. The company also suffered a shipment decline after five consecutive quarters of PC shipment growth with shipments declining 9.5% to 11.92 million units in Q2.
Dell was at third place with a 14% market share. The company shipped 9.58 million PCs in Q2, down 4.9% from last year.
Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said: "The price hike of PCs became more apparent in some regions due to a sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar against local currencies.
"The price hike could hinder PC demand in these regions. Secondly, the worldwide PC market experienced unusually positive desk-based growth last year due to the end of Windows XP support.
"After the XP impact was phased out, there have not been any major growth drivers to stimulate a PC refresh. Lastly, the Windows 10 launch scheduled for 3Q15 has created self-regulated inventory control. PC vendors and the channels tried clearing inventory as much as possible before the Windows 10 launch."
US unit sales declined 5.8% to 15.1 million with a double-digit fall of desk-based shipments, which the research firm said was the sharpest since 2009 when the market was hit by the economic crisis.
