Worldwide PC shipments slump by 5.2% in Q1 2015: Gartner

BENGALURU: A day after forecasting a decline in global information technology (IT) spending, research firm Gartner said that worldwide personal computer shipments have declined by about 5% during the March quarter, weighed down mainly by the advent of smartphones, tablets and hybrid notebooks.

Gartner said global PC shipments totaled 71.7 million units during the Jan-March period, down 5.2% from the same period last year.

The PC industry was also hurt by the fact that lesser number of global corporations replaced existing systems with new machines, unlike in 2014 when the end of the Windows XP support cycle prompted a scramble in system replacements worldwide.

"The PC industry received a boost in 2014 as many companies replaced their PCs due to the end of Windows XP support, but that replacement cycle faded in the first quarter of 2015," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

Gartner added, however, that the long-term health of the PC industry was not necessarily in the doldrums.

"However, this decline is not necessarily a sign of sluggish overall PC sales long term. Mobile PCs, including notebooks, hybrid and Windows tablets, grew compared with a year ago. The first quarter results support our projection of a moderate decline of PC shipments in 2015, which will lead to a slow, consistent growth stage for the next five years.

PC shipments have consistently seen a slump in growth over the past five years, with the advent of smartphones and tablets that reflect a change in consumption habits of a generation of data-hungry technology customers.

The advent of lighter, more powerful notebooks has also aided the decline in desktop sales.

"Desk-based PC shipments declined rapidly, with business desk-based PCs being impacted the most. Mobile PCs are being driven by a separate underlying replacement cycle, which led mobile growth in the first quarter. PC replacements will be driven by thin and light notebooks with tablet functionality. Our early study suggests strong growth of hybrid notebooks, especially in mature markets, in 1Q15,” Gartner said.

Lenono and Hewlett-Packard were the only two PC vendors that witnessed an increase in PC shipments, Gartner added. Dell, however, experienced its first PC shipment decline in six quarters.