PC market decline not as big as expected
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 78.5 million units in the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14), a year-on-year decline of -1.7% – though a sizable improvement over the forecast of -4.1%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Shipments improved slightly in the American and European markets, IDC said, including the Middle East and African sectors as well. However, the Japanese and Asia Pacific markets saw declining figures.
“Although shipments did not decline as much as feared, these preliminary results still show that 3Q14 was one of the weaker calendar third quarters on record in terms of sequential growth.” said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide PC Trackers.
“The current growth of lower-priced systems, while encouraging in the short run, brings concern for the long term viability of vendors to adequately remain in the PC space.”
A notable move amongst PC vendors is that Apple has shifted into the number 5 position on a worldwide basis, slightly overtaking ASUS.
“The company’s steady growth, along with recent price cuts and improved demand in mature markets, has helped it to consistently outgrow the market,” IDC said.
Lenovo still holds a comfortable lead as the top PC supplier, hitting another record volume of 15.7 million units, followed by HP.
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, 2Q14 (thousands of units)
| Vendor | 3Q13 Shipments |
3Q13 Market Share |
3Q14 Shipments |
3Q14 Market Share |
Change |
| Lenovo | 14,130 | 17.7% | 15,707 | 20.0% | 11.2% |
| HP | 14,016 | 17.5% | 14,729 | 18.8% | 5.1% |
| Dell | 9,517 | 11.9% | 10,442 | 13.3% | 9.7% |
| Acer | 5,952 | 7.5% | 6,632 | 8.4% | 11.4% |
| Apple | 4,577 | 5.7% | 4,982 | 6.3% | 8.9% |
| Others | 31,714 | 39.7% | 26,026 | 33.1% | -17.9% |
| Total | 79,905 | 100.0% | 78,519 | 100.0% | -1.7% |
More on the PC market
Surprise PC sales growth from HP
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