PC Sales Continue Decline Despite U.S. Growth from Apple, Lenovo

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 07/15/15

The global PC market continued to decline in the second quarter of this year, according to a recent report from International Data Corp. (IDC), shipping 66.1 million units, a reduction of 11.8 percent from the same period last year.

"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," according to an IDC news release. "In addition, weaker or changing exchange rates for foreign currencies have effectively increased PC prices in many markets, thereby reducing purchasing power and also complicating investment planning. "

"Although the second quarter decline in PC shipments was significant, and slightly more than expected, the overall trend fits with expectations," said Loren Loverde, vice president of worldwide PC trackers & forecasting at IDC, in a prepared statement. "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. 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."

In the United States, shipments totaled approximately 16.4 million units, a 3.3 percent decline from the same period in 2014. Apple and Lenovo helped to soften the drop as they saw increased shipments, as did sales of portable laptops.

Lenovo also lead the segment worldwide with just more than 13.4 million sales and a 20.3 percent market share, an improvement of about 1 percent over its second quarter 2014 share of 19.4 percent. Still, the company saw a drop in total shipments year-on-year from approximately 14.5 million units.

Nationally, Lenovo has some ground to gain on the competition as it finished the quarter in fourth place with a 12.7 percent market share and 2 million units shipped.

HP held its second-place spot with an 18.5 percent share, up slightly from its 18.3 percent share in the same quarter last year. Like Lenovo, however, the number of units shipped by the company dropped, from about 13.7 million to 12.3 million representing a decline of 10.4 percent.

In the United States, HP held the lead, with a 26 percent market share and nearly 4.3 million shipments.

"Slowing business demand and inventory control of entry notebooks contributed to the dip," according to information released by IDC. "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 9.56 million units in the most recent quarter, Down nearly a million units from the same period last year but good enough for an increase in its market share from 14 percent to 14.5 percent and a hold on third place.

Nationally, Dell also fared better, holding second place with a 23.9 percent share and 3.9 million units sold.

Apple was the only company in the global top five to increase shipments, selling a bit more than 5.1 million units in 2015's second quarter, up from 4.4 million in the second quarter of 2014, bumping the company's market share from 5.9 percent to 7.8 percent, good enough to move past Asus and Acer into fourth place.

In the U.S. Apple sold 2.2 million units, good enough for third place and a 13.5 percent share.

"The vendor has largely 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," according to IDC.

IDC called a statistical tie between Acer and Asus, which held a 6.6 and 6.5 percent market share, respectively. That share represents a drop for Acer, which commanded a 7.9 percent share during the same period last year, and a slight improvement for Asus, up from 6.3 percent.

In the United States Toshiba rounded out the top five with 934,000 shipments and a 5.7 percent share of the market.