PC shipments decline Lenovo occupies the top spot

PC shipments decline Lenovo occupies the top spot

Global shipments of personal computers (PC) declined in the first quarter, however, corporate demand helped slow the decline, according to technology market research firms.

Gu Neng (Gartner Inc.) said global PC unit sales fell 1.7% in the first quarter from a year earlier to 76.6 million units. International data Information (IDC) said global quarterly shipments fell 4.4% to 73.4 million units.

The PC market is shrinking for the third year in a row, hurting technology companies such as Intel Corp. And Hewlett-Packard Co., which rely on PC sales. Gu Neng said the highlight of the first quarter was the rise in orders for enterprise desktop computers on the eve of Microsoft Corp.'s end of support for the Windows XP operating system.

"although the PC market is still weak, there are signs of improvement compared with last year," said Mikako Kitagawa Kitagawa, an analyst at Gu Neng. Gu Neng said in January that PC shipments declined by 6.9% in the fourth quarter of last year and by 10% in 2013.

Gu Neng said US shipments reached 14.1 million units, up 2.1 per cent from a year earlier. Shipments in the Asia-Pacific region reached 24.9 million units, down 11% from a year earlier. Us shipments fell 0.6 per cent to 14.3 million units, IDC said.

Lenovo topped the list with a global market share of 17.7% in the first quarter, IDC said. Hewlett-Packard came in second with 17.1%. Dell (Dell Inc.) ranked third with a market share of 13.4%. All three markets made gains in the first quarter, while Acer and Asustek computer markets slipped, with Acer shipments falling 20 per cent, IDC said.

"We have seen integration and the top three have done well, but Acer and Asustek are in an uphill battle because of the Mexican consumer market," Loren Loverde, a researcher at IDC, said in an interview.

IDC estimated last month that PC unit sales will decline 6.1% this year to 295.9 million units, down from 315.1 million last year and shrinking for the third year in a row. IDC estimates that the PC market will continue to shrink until 2018.