Worldwide PC shipments totalled 68.4 million units in the second quarter of 2015, a 9.5 per cent decline from the year-ago period on account of price hikes and inventory control ahead of the Windows 10 launch, research firm Gartner said today.
The total shipments stood at 75.5 million units in the April-June 2014 quarter, Gartner said in its preliminary results.
This was the steepest PC shipment decline since the third quarter of 2013, it added.
PC shipments are projected to decline 4.4 per cent in 2015. Analysts said these inhibitors are temporary events and they are not changing the PC market's structure.
"Therefore, while the PC industry is going through a decline, the market is expected to go back to slow and steady growth in 2016," Gartner said.
Gartner Principal Analyst Mikako Kitagawa said the price hike of PCs became more apparent in some regions due to a sharp appreciation of the US 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," she added.
Also, the Windows 10 launch scheduled for third quarter of 2015 has created self-regulated inventory control, she said.
Lenovo remained at the top with 19.7 per cent market share, followed by HP (17.4 per cent), Dell (14 per cent), Asus (6.8 per cent) and Acer (6.7 per cent).
In the US, PC shipments totalled 15.1 million units in the second quarter of 2015, down 5.8 per cent.
PC shipments in EMEA (Europe, the Middle-East and Africa) totalled 18.6 million units (15.7 per cent decline), while that in Asia-Pacific stood at 24.2 million units (lower by 2.9 per cent).
