According to Gartner, global personal computer shipments reached 80.3 million units in the third quarter of 2013, registering an 8.6 per cent decline from the corresponding period in 2012.
The PC shipment has declined as users in developed and emerging markets have shifted from accessing content from PCs to tablets. In addition, increasing availability of affordable smartphones has led first time users to adopt tablets.
The PC market is witnessing intense competition between HP and Lenovo for the top spot. In the third quarter of 2013, Lenovo led the global PC shipment market with a market share of 17.6 per cent, followed with HP with a market share of 17.1 per cent. For the period under consideration, Dell?s shipments exceeded growth rate averages across all regions, however Acer?s shipments declined by 22.6 per cent over the last year. The research firm states that Acer has shifted its focus from PCs to tablets as the company?s tablet shipments equaled the mobile PC shipments registered by the company in the third quarter of 2013.
Gartner asserts that low demand for PCs in China impacted Lenovo?s sales. However, the company?s losses were offset by higher sales witnessed by it in markets such as the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
