Changing consumer habits damaging PC sales

The holiday period did little to help out the PC market, according to industry analyst firm Gartner, who says the decline shows consumer purchasing habits are changing, with more interest seen in new TVs and wearables.

PC shipments worldwide totalled 75.7 million units in Q415. For the year, 2015 PC shipments totaled 288.7 million units, an 8%decline from 2014.

Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, says the fourth quarter of 2015 marked the fifth consecutive quarter of worldwide PC shipment decline.

"Holiday sales did not boost the overall PC shipments, hinting at changes to consumers' PC purchase behaviour," Kitagawa says. "On the business side, Windows 10 generally received positive reviews, but as expected, Windows 10 migration was minor in the fourth quarter as many organisations were just starting their testing period.

According to Kitagawa, all regions registered a decrease in shipments.

"Currency devaluation issues continued to impact EMEA, Latin America and Japan," she says.

"Collectively EMEA, Japan and Latin America saw their markets reduced by nearly 10% in 2015.

The next 12 months may not be so dark, with Gartner's outlook for PC shipments in 2016 is for a decline of 1% compared with 2015, with the potential for a soft recovery in late 2016.

Kitagawa says the PC market is still in the middle of structural change, which will reduce the PC installed base in the next few years.

On the vendor side, Lenovo registered a worldwide PC shipment decline for the third consecutive quarter for Q415. However, Lenovo declined less than the industry average, and it extended its lead in the market, while holding a 20.3% share.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (January 2016)

HP's fourth quarter PC shipments declined in the worldwide market and across all regions. The decline in the regions were mostly the same or better than the regional average except for the U.S. market, Gartner explains.

Dell's PC shipments declined across all regions except Japan where the company grew by single digits compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, Gartner says. Although Dell's shipments declined in EMEA and the U.S., Dell declined less than the regional averages.

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 16.9 million units in the Q415, a 3.1% decline from the Q414. Despite an 8.4% decline in shipments, HP maintained the No. 1 position in the U.S., accounting for 27.1% of PC shipments in the Q415. Dell continued to be the number 2 vendor in the U.S., as its shipments declined less than the industry average.

"Holiday sales had a limited impact on PC sales in the U.S. market," Kitagawa says. "Notebooks were off the top wish list of holiday gifts. Unlike 2014 holiday sales, there were not many holiday mega deals for laptops, especially in value segments," she says. "At the same time, consumers' interest shifted to other consumer electronics devices such as TVs and wearables.

Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (January 2016)

The Asia/Pacific PC market reached 26 million units in the Q415, a 1.5% decline from the fourth quarter of 2014.

According to Kitagawa, buyers did not rush to replace with newer PC models with Windows 10. PC vendors looked for profitability over shipment volume, focusing on segments such as gaming PCs; bundling of desktops with large monitor screens and ultramobile device models. Preliminary results indicate that the China PC market declined 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with a year ago.

For the year, worldwide PC shipments declined for the fourth consecutive year, which started in 2012 with the launch of tablets.

"In 2015, local currency devaluation also played a key role in the market conditions," Kitagawa says.

"EMEA, Latin America and Japan faced a major impact from the devaluation, showing double-digit declines in 2015. In contrast, the U.S. and Asia/Pacific experienced minor declines of almost flat to low single-digit declines as the currency issue did not affect these regions.

The top six vendor accounted for more of the overall PC market in 2015. These vendors accounted for 73.1% of shipments in 2015, up from 70.4% of shipments in 2014.

Lenovo maintained the number one position, accounting for 19.8% of PC shipments, followed by HP with 18.2% market share. Dell rounded out the top three vendors, accounting for 13.6% of shipments.

Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2015 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (January 2016)