Sergey Zaks shops for a laptop computer at a Tiger Direct store on April 11, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images/Scott Olson
As more consumers move away from investing in laptops and personal computers, and spend their money in droves on smartphones and tablets, PC shipments took another dive in the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest figures released by Gartner.
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 79.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, a 11.2% decline from the first quarter of 2012, Gartner said. Similar figures released by IDC reported that worldwide PC shipments declined 13.9% during the first three months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier. In the U.S. market, Gartner said PC shipments totaled 14.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, a 9.6% decline from the first quarter of 2012 – marking a record of six consecutive quarters of shipment declines. These figures point to the inching closer of the “post-PC” era predicted by Steve Jobs back in 2011 at the launch of the iPad 2 – which makes one wonder: Can Windows still be top dog in a world no longer dominated by the personal computer?
Instead of having a positive effect on the PC market, Microsoft’s dismal Windows 8 launch appears to have actually slowed things down, according to IDC.
“Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn’t provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market,” said IDC Vice President Bob O’Donnell.
The newest version of Windows is designed to work well with touch-sensitive screens, but the displays add to the cost of a PC. Together, the changes and higher prices “have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices,” O’Donnell said.
In addition, other PC makers are feeling the pain. Lenovo’s worldwide PC shipments were flat compared with a year ago, its slowest growth since the first quarter of 2009. Dell had a challenging quarter, registering a shipment decline in all regions except Japan. While HP held onto the top position of PC shipments, accounting for 24.2% of PC shipments in the U.S., it got hit the hardest as it recorded its worst shipment decline -23.3% — since the acquisition of Compaq in 2003. HP’s consumer business negatively affected its overall shipment volume, but its professional business was also under attack by competitors, Gartner said. Apple and Lenovo were the only vendors among the top five in the U.S. to experience PC shipment growth in the first quarter of 2013.
To put those numbers into context, take a look at the most recent smartphone sales: Global smartphone volume in the fourth quarter of 2012 was expected to reach 224.5 million units, representing 39.5% year-over-year growth due primarily to strong consumer demand, according to IDC. For the year, smartphone shipments grew 45.1% year over year to 717.5 million units.
“Although the overall economy had some upward momentum, it did not help buoy PC growth, suggesting the economic recovery is having little impact on PC market conditions,” Kitagawa added. “Similar to other mature markets, the U.S. will see the installed base of consumer PCs decrease going forward. This is because many of these systems will not be replaced with PCs; they will be displaced by other devices, or simply retired.”
While many unknowns remain, a number of factors – most namely consumer buying trends – will dictate which devices will survive – and those that will permanently go to sleep.
