The PC Is Slowly Becoming History - Shipments Fall For Eighth Consecutive Quarter

Personal computer (PC) shipments worldwide have hit the longest slump in history end of the third quarter, this year.

Ample availability of smart gadgets has extended lifespan for PCs denting global shipments, which have taken a beating again in the September quarter.

Research firm Gartner said PC shipments fell 5.7 per cent to 68.9 million units, which according to its preliminary results, is the eighth consecutive quarter of decline in shipments.

In the corresponding period last year the shipments had totalled 79 million units.

Principal Analyst at Gartner Mikako Kitagawa said there are two key issues that have impacted the PC market. One, copious smart gadgets in the market have extended the lifetime of PCs. Two, PC penetration has hit a low in emerging markets where consumers are happy using smartphones or phablets, unlike their counterparts in the mature markets.

The challenges for PC manufacturers also included a weak back-to-school demand.

The top six vendors combined for a record high 78 per cent of PC shipments in the third quarter of 2016.

Lenovo continued to be the worldwide market leader based on preliminary PC shipments with 20.9 per cent share, followed by HP at 20.4 per cent and Dell at 14.7 per cent share.

Asus, Apple and Acer followed in the tally with 7.8 per cent, 7.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent share, respectively.

The data includes numbers of desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface) shipped but excludes Chromebooks and iPads.