In recent years, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have slowly been encroaching on PC industry, and the latest report from Gartner Inc. reveals there's no hope for the industry.
In Q4 2013, the worldwide shipment statistics for PCs numbered at 82.6 million units. While this may still seem like a relatively large number, it represents the latest blow to the PC manufacturing industry, which is going through a slow and excruciatingly painful decline. The latest numbers indicate a decline of about 6.9 percent compared to the same time period a year earlier. In the manufacturing world, 6.9 percent is a huge number. Moreover, the Q4 decline spells a record seven consecutive quarter losing streak for the PC industry.
In the U.S., HP continued to rule the roost with 26.5 percent market share in Q4 2013, despite growth slipping by 10.3 percent. Breathing down its neck is Dell, with 22.8 percent market share, registering 7.4 percent rise in the quarter. Grabbing the no.3 spot was Apple, whose shipments in Q3 jumped a massive 28.5 percent to give it a market share of 13.7 percent. Lenovo with 9.7 percent market share (up 3.5 percent) and Toshiba with 7.2 percent (down 13.9 percent) rounded up the top 5 PC vendors in the U.S.
"Although PC shipments continued to decline in the worldwide market in the fourth quarter, we increasingly believe markets, such as the U.S., have bottomed out as the adjustment to the installed base slows," says Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa. "Strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets. In emerging markets, the first connected device for consumers is most likely a smartphone, and their first computing device is a tablet. As a result, the adoption of PCs in emerging markets will be slower as consumers skip PCs for tablets."
The declining PC shipment figures have prompted some PC vendors to branch out to manufacturing mobile devices. Lenovo and ASUS have tasted moderate success in the smartphone market and HP said it will soon make a foray into the highly competitive market, dominated by Apple and Samsung.
It is clear that the PC industry is in its death throes and withina decade, it will account for a miniscule market share of the computing industry as niche devices for specialized computing needs emerge.
