Framingham, Mass. – U.S. PC shipments slid 3.3 percent to 16.4 million units in the second quarter, accelerating from the first-quarter’s 1 percent decline, with only Apple and Lenovo among the top five vendors posting shipment growth, IDC said.
The U.S. market, nonetheless, continued to hold up better than the global market, whose shipments fell 11.8 percent to 66.1 million units.
In the U.S., desktop shipments were down, but portable PCs shipments continued to grow, the research company said.
“The U.S. market was in line with forecasts, declining 3.3 percent from a year ago, after avoiding the global market declines over the past five quarters,” said Rajani Singh, senior research analyst for personal computers. “Soft retail demand, short-term weakness from inventory reductions, some cannibalization from competing devices, and low demand for large commercial refreshes are among the factors that reduced PC shipments.” Nevertheless, the analyst said, “moving forward, we expect a healthy second half as inventory and purchase decisions pick up following the launch of Windows 10. Emerging product categories will remain a bright spot as attention shifts to convertibles and Chromebooks in the commercial as well as consumer segments.”
IDC’s PC statistics include desktop, mini notebook and other Portable PCs but exclude handhelds or tablets without hardwired keyboards, such as the Apple iPad.
Globally, the second-quarter decline in PC shipments “was significant, and slightly more than expected,” but “the overall trend fits with expectations,” said IDC VP Loren Loverde. “We continue to expect low to mid-single digit declines in volume during the second half of the year with volume stabilizing in future years.” IDC expects the Windows 10 launch “to go relatively well, though many users will opt for a free OS upgrade rather than buying a new PC.” Competition from 2-in-1 devices and phones “remains an issue, but the economic environment has had a larger impact lately, and that should stabilize or improve going forward,” the VP said.
Sales by brand: Lenovo remained on top in global market share on a year-over year basis with 20.3 percent share. HP held onto the number two spot with 18.5 percent, and Dell held onto third with 14.5 percent. Apple moved to fourth place from the year-ago sixth place with 7.8 percent share. Acer Group and Asus followed with 6.6 percent and 6.5 percent share, respectively.
Globally, Apple was the only vendor among the top five to increase unit sales with a gain of 16.1 percent to 5.1 million.
In the U.S., only Apple and Lenovo among the top five U.S. vendors increased their shipments, with Apple shipments growing 11.9 percent to 2.2 million units and Lenovo shipments growing 8.8 percent to 2.1 million.
Apple and Lenovo were also the only companies among the five to increase their U.S. share compared to the year ago, but market-share ranks among the top five didn’t change. HP was first, followed by Dell, Apple, Lenovo, and Toshiba.
Here are their Q2 U.S. share numbers: HP, 26 percent, down from the year-ago 26.9 percent; Dell, 23.9 percent, down from 25.4 percent; Apple, 13.5 percent, up from 11.6 percent; Lenovo, 12.7 percent, up from 11.3 percent; and Toshiba, 5.7 percent, down from 6 percent. The share held by all other PC makers fell to 18.1 percent from 18.7 percent.
