Is the demand for the PC starting to slip in the face of smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks as viable alternatives? Well it would seem so because according to a recent report from the IDC, they have reported that worldwide PC shipments totaled 73.4 million units in the first quarter of 2014. This is actually a 4.4% decline year-on-year which does not bode well for PC manufacturer.
However it seems that despite PC shipments starting to slip, IDC has found that Lenovo is still maintaining their number one position in worldwide PC shipments with shipments in Q1 totalling 12.9 million. They are followed by HP who are pretty close at 12.55 million, followed by Dell which is a pretty distant third at 9.8 million. Acer and ASUS also made the list at fourth and fifth place respectively but it seems even their combined might does not even reach Lenovo’s numbers.
It is also interesting to note that while worldwide Lenovo might be the number one PC shipper, but in the US market, HP is the reigning champion followed by Dell, and then Lenovo in third place, closely followed by Apple in fourth and Toshiba in fifth. However we should note that PC shipments does not indicate sales, although it does indicate demand – after all why would PC makers bother shipping that many units if there wasn’t any demand for it, right?
According to the IDC’s Vice President of Worldwide PC Trackers, Loren Loverde, “Worldwide PC shipments have now declined for eight consecutive quarters as a result of shifting technology usage and competition (notably with tablets & smartphones) as well as economic pressures (including high unemployment, slow growth & investment, tight credit, and currency fluctuations) related to the Great Recession, sovereign debt crises, and their related impact on international trade.”