PC market ends 2015 with double-digit slump

Windows 8 stock clear-out partly to blame

The global PC market slumped in the double digits in the final quarter of 2015, according to IDC, which said clearing out high levels of Windows 8 inventory is partly to blame.

According to the analyst, in Q4, 71.9 million units were shipped worldwide, down 10.6 per cent annually. Gartner came up with slightly more optimistic figures and said shipments totalled 75.7 million, down 8.3 per cent over the same period.

IDC said the double-digit decline remained a theme in EMEA.

"As forecast, EMEA witnessed another quarter of double-digit year-over-year decline in PC shipments, as vendors remained engaged in clearing out the older inventories of Windows 8," said IDC. "The launch of new products with Windows 10 supported holiday-season business, but did not reverse the negative trend. The late availability of PCs based on Skylake architecture delayed some purchases, while IT budgets suffered from economic instability and currency volatility."

IDC said that for 2015, shipments were in line with "already conservative" expectations but that the year marked the first with fewer than 300 million units shipped since 2008.

Apple was the only top-five vendor to see PC sales jump for the whole of 2015, according to IDC.

The tech giant saw the number of PCs it shipped rise 6.2 per cent annually to 20.8 million, raising it to fourth place in the top five, overtaking Acer. Lenovo retained its crown as the number-one PC vendor even though its shipments slumped 3.6 per cent over the same period. Second- and third-placed Dell and HP saw shipments fall 5.9 per cent on 2014, while in fifth place Acer suffered an 18.1 per cent fall over the same period.

Gartner expects the PC market to slump one per cent annually for the whole of 2016.

Principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said there was a glimmer of hope in the business PC market.

"The fourth quarter of 2015 marked the fifth consecutive quarter of worldwide PC shipment decline," she said. "Holiday sales did not boost the overall PC shipments, hinting at changes to consumers' PC purchase behaviour. 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."