Global PC shipments are anticipated to drop by 6% in 2014, a new IDC report noted.
The research firm’s latest Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker revealed that global PC shipments decreased by 9.8% in 2013, which is slightly less than anticipated 10.1% decline.
However, the research firm lowered overall growth projections for 2014 by over 2%, and subsequent years were reduced by below 1%, which are sufficient to maintain long-term growth just below nil, and raise volumes below 300 million all through the forecast period.
IDC Worldwide PC Trackers vice president Loren Loverde said that emerging markets used to be a core driver of the PC market, as rising penetration among large populations boosted overall growth.
"At the moment, however, we’re seeing emerging regions more affected by a weak economic environment as well as significant shifts in technology buying priorities," Loverde said.
"We do expect these regions to recover in the medium term and perform better than mature regions, but growth is expected to stabilise near zero percent, rather than driving increasing volumes as we saw in the past."
The report added that emerging regions were on forecast for the fourth quarter, while major concerns had further lowered expectations moving ahead.
IDC Asia/Pacific Client Devices research manager Andi Handoko said that 2014 will remain a challenging year for PC vendors in Asia as a cautious economic outlook means consumers will prioritise device purchases.
At the same time, tectonic changes in politics will affect commercial spending in some of the major countries, like India, Indonesia, and Thailand, which are due to hold elections this year," Handoko said.
"The region is also seeing a void in public sector spending this year after huge education deals seen in India and Malaysia last year failed to materialise."
