Worldwide personal computer (PC) shipments declined for the seventh consecutive quarter in the October-December period of 2013, totalling 82.6 million units, preliminary results by Gartner said today.
The preliminary figures showed a 6.9 per cent decline from the fourth quarter of 2012, when the shipments totalled 88.7 million.
For the year, PC shipments were 315.9 million units, a 10 per cent decline from 2012.
"This is the worst decline in PC market history, equal to the shipment level in 2009," Gartner said.
"Although PC shipments continued to decline in the worldwide market in the fourth quarter, we increasingly believe markets, such as the US, have bottomed out as the adjustment to the installed base slows," Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement.
The research firm said strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets.
"In emerging markets, the first connected device for consumers is most likely a smartphone, and their first computing device is a tablet. As a result, the adoption of PCs in emerging markets will be slower as consumers skip PCs for tablets," Kitagawa added.
Gartner said HP and Lenovo have been virtually neck and neck for the top global position in the PC market throughout 2013.
"Lenovo took the lead in the fourth quarter, as it did last quarter, accounting for 18.1 per cent of global PC shipments," it said.
HP experienced a shipments decline of 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter whereas Dell continued to maintain the third position and accounted for 11.8 per cent of the market.
Acer and Asus's ranking remained unchanged at fourth and fifth compared with a year ago.
"Both companies have more focus on tablets, and their fourth-quarter results clearly proved their strategic focus," Kitagawa said.
PC shipments in Asia/Pacific totalled 26.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2013, a 9.8 per cent decline from the fourth quarter of 2012.
