Holiday Sales Provided Little Cheer to PC Vendors in 2015

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The Asia/Pacific PC market reached 26 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 1.5 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2014. 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 percent 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,” Ms. Kitagawa said. “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 percent of shipments in 2015, up from 70.4 percent of shipments in 2014 (see Table 3). Lenovo maintained the number one position, accounting for 19.8 percent of PC shipments, followed by HP with 18.2 percent market share. Dell rounded out the top three vendors, accounting for 13.6 percent of shipments.

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PC shipments in EMEA totaled 22.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, a decline of 16 percent year-over-year. In Western Europe, some countries, such as the UK, showed solid Windows 10 promotions during the holiday season, and shipments in the French market remained good. Overall high inventory levels plagued Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, the PC market experienced modest growth in low-single digits, driven by consumer demand for new hybrid devices and PC replacements to move to Windows 10.

The Asia/Pacific PC market reached 26 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 1.5 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2014. 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 percent 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,” Ms. Kitagawa said. “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 percent of shipments in 2015, up from 70.4 percent of shipments in 2014 (see Table 3). Lenovo maintained the number one position, accounting for 19.8 percent of PC shipments, followed by HP with 18.2 percent market share. Dell rounded out the top three vendors, accounting for 13.6 percent of shipments.

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