Despite Declining PC Shipments, Apple Gains Market Share [Chart]

Despite an 11.5% year over year decline of worldwide PC shipments in 1Q16, Apple gained market share, reports IDC. Total PC shipments were 60.6 million in the first quarter of this year.

PC shipments to the U.S. fell 5.8% to 13.6 million units in 1Q16. PC channels remained challenged with aging inventory although inventory churn has reportedly improved throughout the last two quarters. Market inhibitors that were present in 4Q15 lingered through 1Q16. These issues included softened demand due to global economic concerns, the Windows 10 free upgrade path stalling some consumer PC purchases, and increased attrition towards detachables. "Demand for PCs in the U.S. remains sluggish," said IDC Research Director, Devices & Displays, Linn Huang. "However, we should be entering a period of reprieve. Peak corporate and education buying seasons have historically started in the second quarter. With some IT buyers thinking about early Windows 10 transitions and with the potential continued ascent of Chromebooks in U.S. K-12, the PC market should experience a modest rebound in the coming months."

In the United States Dell overtook HP for the first place ranking for the first time since the third quarter of 2009. Dell's U.S. PC shipments rose 4.2% year over year to 3.48 million giving it 25.6% market share. HP's shipments fell 14.1% to 3.44 million units (25.3% share). Lenovo shipped 1.9 million units (21.1% year-over-year growth, 14.1% market share). Apple's Mac shipments rose 5.6% year over year to nearly 1.8 million (13.0% market share). Acer's shipments fell 10.4% to 0.7 million but it overtook ASUS and Toshiba to get back into the top five.


Vendor Highlights
● Lenovo maintained its top global rank for the quarter with U.S. growth in excess of 20%. However, the company faced a challenging quarter in all other markets with international shipments declining 12.5% from the prior year, bringing total worldwide volume down 8.5% from a year ago.

● HP Inc. remained the number 2 vendor as it navigated its separation from HP Enterprise during the quarter. The company struggled with some inventory issues in North America and a continued slow market in Latin America, with total worldwide shipments declining nearly 11% from the prior year.

● Dell remained the number 3 vendor globally, outperforming the market with a decline of just 2%, and also pulled to the lead in the United States market. Strong shipments of notebook PCs helped the vendor achieve the best quarter among the top 5 vendors.

● Apple took the fourth spot worldwide and continued to outperform the market, thanks to solid growth in North America.


● ASUS declined 8.3% from a year ago and dropped to the number 5 position. North America still saw decent uptake, but the vendor faced challenges elsewhere, especially EMEA.

Take a look at the chart below for more details...

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