PC market dips in Q4 and 2016, Lenovo retains lead

How PC market performed in 2016
Top IT market research agencies revealed declines in the shipment of PCs globally in both Q4 2016 and 2016.

Both the reports indicate that business PC market has the potential to grow.

IDC rated Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and ASUS as the top PC makers. Gartner has rated Lenovo, HP, Dell, ASUS, Apple and Acer as the top six PC suppliers.

IDC said shipments of PCs — Desktop, Notebook, and Workstation – declined 1.5 percent to 70.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016. Shipments of traditional PCs slipped 5.7 percent to 260 million units in 2016.

ALSO READ: IDC report on global PC market in 2016

“The contraction in traditional PC shipments experienced over the past five years finally appears to be giving way as users move to update systems. We have a good opportunity for traditional PC growth in commercial markets, while the consumer segment should also improve as it feels less pressure from slowing phone and tablet markets,” said Loren Loverde, vice president, Personal Computing Trackers & Forecasting at IDC.
PC shipment chart by IDC for Q4 2016Gartner said PC shipments fell 3.7 percent to 72.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016. PC shipments dropped 6.2 percent to 269.7 million units in 2016. PC shipments have declined annually since 2012.
PC shipments in Q4 2016Gartner analysts said the broad PC market has been static as technology improvements have not been sufficient to drive real market growth.

“There have been innovative form factors like 2-in-1s and thin and light notebooks, as well as technology improvements, such as longer battery life. This end of the market has grown fast, led by engaged PC users who put high priority on PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

PC growth opportunity

Though the overall PC market will see stagnation, there are growth opportunities within the market, such as the engaged PC user market, the business market and gaming. However, these growth areas will not prevent the overall decline of the PC market, at least in the next year.

Four of the top six PC vendors experienced an increase in PC shipments in Q4 2016.

Top three vendors all increased their global market share in the fourth quarter.

Lenovo maintained the No. 1 position in the global PC market, as the company experienced shipment increases in North America and EMEA, while Asia/Pacific and Japan continued to be challenging markets.

HP has remained in the second position in PC market after recording three consecutive quarters of shipment growth.

HP’s growth was driven by its top position in PC shipments in the U.S. and EMEA, growing faster than the regional averages.

Dell registered three consecutive quarters of shipment growth in Q4 2016. Dell continued to place PCs as a strategic business segment in commercial and consumer markets in 2016.

Asus suffered the steepest decline among the top six vendors in the fourth quarter of 2016. Asus has been shifting its PC strategy more toward the high-end market for better profit margins.

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