Worldwide PC shipments totaled 73.7 million units in the third quarter of 2015, a 7.7 percent decline from the third quarter of 2014, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.
“The global PC market has experienced price increases of around 10 percent throughout the year, due to the sharp appreciation of the U.S. dollar against local currencies. In the third quarter of 2015, this continued to be a major cause for weaker demand in those regions,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “These impacted regions, which include EMEA, Japan and Latin America, posted double-digit declines in the third quarter. Asia/Pacific and the U.S. were more stable.”
Windows 10 was launched in the third quarter of 2015, but it had a minimal impact on shipments in the quarter. Lenovo secured the top position in worldwide PC shipments, as its market share increased to 20.3 percent, despite a 4 percent decline in shipments in the third quarter of 2015 (see Table 1). EMEA and Japan were two challenging regions for Lenovo with double-digit declines, but they were offset by 22 percent growth in the U.S. Lenovo introduced a variety of hybrid laptops, both detachable and from a wide range of price points.
Table 1: Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premium (see “Market Definitions and Methodology: Consumer Devices“). All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels. Numbers may not add up to totals shown because of rounding. Source: Gartner (October 2015)
HP maintained the second position in worldwide PC shipments. HP’s market share reached 18.5 percent, while shipments declined 4 percent. HP had weak shipments in EMEA, but they were offset by shipment growth in Asia/Pacific and the U.S. Dell, the No. 3 vendor worldwide, saw flat shipments compared with a year ago. Dell did well in most regions, but it had a double-digit decline in shipments in Japan. In Asia/Pacific and the U.S., Dell grew faster than the regional average.
In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 17 million units in the third quarter of 2015, a 1.3 percent increase from the same period last year (see Table 2). Similar to worldwide market trends, the U.S. market experienced growth in notebooks and premium ultramobiles, which was offset by desktop PC shipment declines.
Table 2: Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premium (see “Market Definitions and Methodology: Consumer Devices“). All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels. Numbers may not add up to totals shown because of rounding. Source: Gartner (October 2015)
PC shipments in EMEA totaled 20 million units in the third quarter of 2015, a decline of 15.7 percent over the same period last year. The currency devaluation continued to be a major contributor of stagnation in EMEA, as prices remained high. The inventory buildup from the first half of 2015 started showing some improvement during the third quarter. The back-to-school sales season was weak in Western Europe, as the introduction of many new products was delayed until the end of September due to the clearing of high inventory.
Asia/Pacific PC shipments reached 26.3 million units in the third quarter of 2015, a 1.7 percent decline from the third quarter of 2014. Consumer spending continues to be cautious due to weak economies and currency fluctuations. Asia/Pacific mobile PC shipments grew 2.2 percent in the third quarter, while desk-based PC shipments declined 4.9 percent.
These results are preliminary.
Source: Gartner, Inc.
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