PC sales slump with Asian shipments "worst in years"

Just when sales for the PC industry were looking up, computer shipments slipped globally in Q2. Analysts were expecting conservative numbers for the PC industry overall in Q2, and the latest report from IDC published this week shows sales were worse than expected. According to IDC, 86.7 million PC units were shipped globally in Q2.

That 86.7 million unit shipment is down 0.1% from the same quarter the previous year. The sales numbers were significantly less than the conservative expectations of 2.1% growth for the quarter. One reason for the decline in shipments globally was what IDC calls "constrained" demand in the US, Europe, and Asia. The research firm specifically called out Asia as having "its worst performance in years."

Looking at the US alone, Gartner reports PC shipments fell by 11%, significantly higher than 4.4% decline expected. HP maintained the top spot for PC vendors with 14.9% of the market share. Lenovo was second with 14.7% of the market, and Acer had 11% of the market to grab third place. Dell landed in fourth with 10.7% of the market.

"Consumers are less interested in spending on PCs as there are other technology product and services, such as the latest smartphones and media tablets that they are purchasing," Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement. "This is more of a trend in the mature market as PCs are highly saturated in these markets."

[via MarketWatch]