The downward slide of PC shipment continued even in the first quarter of 2014 after constant decline throughout entire 2013. Global PC shipments dropped to 76.6 million units in the first quarter of 2014, a 1.7 percent decrease from the same period last year, according to Gartner. Gartner attributed the slump in PC shipments to Microsoft’s decision to end support for Windows XP operating system.
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner in an official statement.
All regions indicated a positive effect since the end of XP support stimulated the PC refresh of XP systems. Professional desktops, in particular, showed strength in the quarter. Among key countries, Japan was greatly affected by the end of XP support, registering a 35 percent year-over-year increase in PC shipments. The growth was also boosted by sales tax change. We expect the impact of XP migration worldwide to continue throughout 2014.
Giving insights about vendor performance this quarter, Gartner revealed that Lenovo continued to be the leader with 16.9% global market share followed by HP and Dell at 16% and 12.5% respectively. The share difference between Dell and HP once again narrowed as HP managed to achieve its fastest shipment growth of the last two years with 4.1%. On the other hand Dell maintained a strong position in the market, registering its highest growth with 9 percent since Q4 2011.
Last month IDC had predicted a decline of 9.8% in global PC shipment. Explosion in smartphone and tablets usage is resulting into consecutive decline of PC sales worldwide.