New York — Worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter hit recession level lows, although shipments in the U.S. were above 2012 levels, according to IDC and Gartner.
Overall, the back-to-school quarter saw Hewlett-Packard continue as the shipments leader in the U.S., while Lenovo retained a slim lead in the worldwide market.
Gartner reported 16.1 million PCs shipped in the U.S. during the third quarter, up 3.5 percent, and 80.3 million worldwide, down 8.6 percent year over year. IDC’s calculations were a bit different, with 16.4 shipping domestically, for a 0.2 percent dip, and 81.6 worldwide, down 7.6 percent.
IDC had originally expected worldwide shipments to decrease 9.5 percent for the quarter, but explained the better number was hit due to higher than anticipated corporate spending.
The U.S. market also performed better than its overseas rivals, with Gartner citing the introduction of Intel’s Haswell processor as a reason for the better U.S. shipment figures.
