Gartner: PC shipments have dropped 6.9 percent in Q4 2013, emerging markets to blame

[Youbetternot]

Wow PC shipments dropped 6.9 percent in Q4 2013, "6.9". Anyways that joke aside looks like less prebuild computers and laptops are shipping compared to 2012. There was total of 82.6 million PC shipments for Q4 2013, while during Q4 of 2012 there were 88.7 million PC shipments. Lenovo came at first place shipping 14.9 million shipments and surprisingly HP came second (well kinda expected since they are cheap). Notice that in Q4 of 2012 HP shipped 14.6 million and 2013 only 13.6 million. The companies are expecting that hybrid devices and lower cost notebooks could spur some growth in 2014. Well Since most people now just buy tablets and smartphones instead of traditional pcs, it could help the market out.

Those tumbling PC shipments we've seen all year? They add up to a 6.9 percent year-over-year drop compared to 2012's Q4 numbers, according to Gartner. The group's latest totals puts PC shipments at 82.6 million units for Q4 2013, with the lions share coming from HP and Lenovo - though only the latter managed to grow its business during that period. Dell came in at a distant third, moving 4 million fewer machines than HP while maintaing a 6.2 percent increases in shipments since Q4 2012. The news seems grim for all but a select free companies, but at least it won't get any worse: Gartner says that most markets have bottomed out, and the losses mostly come from emerging Asia/Pacific markets where consumers first computing devices are typically smartphones and tablets, not traditional PCs. Despite predictions that the US market has reached its lowest point, analysts note that holiday sales were primarily dominated by tablets and mobile devices, though optimistically note that hybrid devices and lower cost notebooks could spur some growth in 2014.  

 

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/09/gartner-pc-q4-2013/

[Bluejay0]

I blame the new shit confusing people on what the hell to buy. 

[TheSLSAMG]

For all we know, it's because people are actually starting to take care of their PCs.

 

Who am I kidding, iPads for all of them!

[Kamina]

Desktop PC's are so darn cheap now if you're a casual consumer, and a tablet is strong enough for all of your browsing needs.

[deathjester]

Misleading article. Computer PARTS and computer gaming are higher then ever. AMD and Nvidia are making a killing. Steam is at an all time high.

 

Why aren't people buying dells and crap? Probably cus they realize they suck, and another reason? People really hate Windows 8. 

 

Gartner is a freaking joke and has been saying the PC is dead for a decade. This is all to get people to buy stupid consoles and dumb tablets that we don't use for anything but using the internet on the crapper.

 

The PC is fine. It is growing. Crappy products and crappy OS's aren't selling. I love how Gartner says the IPAD is exempt LOL. The only thing that should be "dying" here is notebooks because Tablets filled their niche, and notebooks are a part of that survey. BTW I love how all these "tech sites" SCREAMED that PC was a dying gaming platform, and dying platform right before Christmas so that they could sell their dumb tablets and consoles. Suck it tablets and consoles.

 

[zxcvbnmmssdh]

Misleading article. Computer PARTS and computer gaming are higher then ever. AMD and Nvidia are making a killing. Steam is at an all time high.

 

Why aren't people buying dells and crap? Probably cus they realize they suck, and another reason? People really hate Windows 8. 

 

Gartner is a freaking joke and has been saying the PC is dead for a decade. This is all to get people to buy stupid consoles and dumb tablets that we don't use for anything but using the internet on the crapper.

 

The PC is fine. It is growing. Crappy products and crappy OS's aren't selling. I love how Gartner says the IPAD is exempt LOL. The only thing that should be "dying" here is notebooks because Tablets filled their niche, and notebooks are a part of that survey. BTW I love how all these "tech sites" SCREAMED that PC was a dying gaming platform, and dying platform right before Christmas so that they could sell their dumb tablets and consoles. Suck it tablets and consoles.

 

Awwwwwwww, poor Wii U. It actually isn't that bad.

[R4STABAN]

Windows 8 strikes again

 

Also tablets. Who the hell wants a desktop? only nerds like us. Normal people will use a laptop at most as it saves space.

[s3ns3]

windows 8 ofc

[dizmo]

Windows 8 strikes again

 

Also tablets. Who the hell wants a desktop? only nerds like us. Normal people will use a laptop at most as it saves space.

So, so true.

Honestly a laptop or a tablet is all the average consumer needs. Especially if you can get one with a keyboard. I've just had a laptop for the past year and it's been fine. Mind you when I used my PC for a few days it was a sweet, sweet few days.

I'll always have a laptop in addition to a desktop so I can use it in bed or on the couch.

[Andrew0472]

I blame the new shit confusing people on what the hell to buy. 

it always seems to happen around this time because word gets out that companies are bringing products but the products don't come out until mid year ish (talking like gpu's and that). 

[TopWargamer]

Not too surprising. The market is tending to move away from the traditional desktop PC and towards laptops and tablets, more so the latter. Even having a good smartphone can eliminate a computer and tablet 100% if the person is a casual electronics user. Don't tell me it's not true, because it is. I know of people who are like this.

[deathjester]

Small print on "study". Does not include tablets, includes netbooks.

 

Netbooks became useless when tablets came out. Therefore? This entire study is worthless and proves nothing just like all the previous insanity from "Gartner".

 

2011. Gartner says PC is dead.

 

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/22014-pc-is-dead-claims-gartner

 

2011 (same year). Record sales in PC's (LOL).

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/06/report-record-pc-games-sales-in-2011

 

2001. Pc gaming is dying. IGN (GOOD CALL IGN). Oh when did Xbox come out? 2001? Who does IGN cater to? The console crowd? What a big surprise. 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/03/13/is-pc-gaming-dying

 

2008. Gartner says mouse is dead.

http://gizmodo.com/5027117/computer-mouse-rip-in-five-years-experts-say

 

Another awesome study by Gartner. 2 percent of the population will be married in "virtual worlds". One more year for this gem to come true...

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/111407-gartner-analyst-predicts.html

 

IGN earlier this year. PC gaming has exploded. Boy that had to hurt IGN. No biggie they still downplay the PC is their skyrim mod article and claim they are "basically the same". By the same they mean one version looks like minecraft.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/04/why-pc-gaming-has-exploded

 

And of course now? PC's are "dying again" because of mediocre PC consoles. Makers perfect sense. Gartner should totally be held up as unbiased and as a modern day Nostradamus (not that he was any better). These consoles ARE PC's. They are just PC's that limit what you can do.

[Cwazywazy]

So, so true.

Honestly a laptop or a tablet is all the average consumer needs. Especially if you can get one with a keyboard. I've just had a laptop for the past year and it's been fine. Mind you when I used my PC for a few days it was a sweet, sweet few days.

I'll always have a laptop in addition to a desktop so I can use it in bed or on the couch.

I have my multi-monitor desktop, a laptop, a netbook, and a Nexus 7. Best of all worlds. (Except gaming laptop)

[Humbug]

As some posters have alluded to the confusion is due to the contrast between the health of PC gaming vs overall PC shipments. PC game sales and gaming grade hardware are doing well. But the entry level stuff is in decline which causes the overall downward trend in the PC industry.

 

As time goes on people like us make up a higher and higher percentage of an overall smaller PC market.

So eventually the PC will be this mostly high end platform which is associated with content creators, video editors, gamers, graphic artists, other scientific applications etc... The decline in overall PC sales has already started slowing, and it will bottom out and stabilize as a smaller market than what it used to be, and certainly a smaller market than mobile devices; but not so small that you can call it a niche market.

[deathjester]

As some posters have alluded to the confusion is due to the contrast between the health of PC gaming vs overall PC shipments. PC game sales and gaming grade hardware are doing well. But the entry level stuff is in decline which causes the overall downward trend in the PC industry.

 

As time goes on people like us make up a higher and higher percentage of an overall smaller PC market.

So eventually the PC will be this mostly high end platform which is associated with content creators, video editors, gamers, graphic artists, other scientific applications etc... The decline in overall PC sales has already started slowing, and it will bottom out and stabilize as a smaller market than what it used to be, and certainly a smaller market than mobile devices; but not so small that you can call it a niche market.

 

Based on what? This "study" could mean netbooks aren't selling. It didn't include tablets. Of course netbook sales are down with tablets here. Why would you buy a netbook over a tablet? They are both useless other then surfing the internet or reading a ebook, skype, and a tablet is smaller. As I have shown this same company (Gartner) predicted the death of the PC in 2011, and in 2011 they set all time records selling units.

 

What if this study included tablets? Then is the PC growing? This study is a joke. A netbook is a pc, but a tablet isn't? Why? The Netbook is also useless as far as being a "pc". 

 

This study cherry picked what it determined was PC's to try to put forth the same idea they have since 2001. "The pc is dying". They say it over and over again. They are wrong every single time.

[Humbug]

This study cherry picked what it determined was PC's to try to put forth the same idea they have since 2001. "The pc is dying". They say it over and over again. They are wrong every single time.

They aren't saying that this time.

In fact the article says

but at least it won't get any worse: Gartner says that most markets have bottomed out, and the losses mostly come from emerging Asia/Pacific markets

[Hazy125]

In other news, "graphics card" has had a 8.6% increase in google searches since 2011. I'm sure this doesn't mean people are building more computers at all

[Tigerbomb8]

What can you expect to happen when a computer from 5 years ago is still perfectly capable of browsing facebook.. 

[Stefan Becker]

In Denmark we have a company who ship custom PC's. They are going up in sales. Perhaps, getting a custom build is getting more popular?

[Ashaira]

OEMs are dying. PCs will never die. They can't. PCs are the base of every tech device ever imagined. Everything is in fact a smaller less capable PC. A lot of these gadgets have their place but none will ever replace a PC. Even 1000 years from now when we have a single nano sized chip that can imerse us in virtual worlds there will still be normal or large sized PCs doing the harder stuff. You think Nasa launches rockets on tablets? You think Avengers was rendered on a laptop? 

[Humbug]

Even 1000 years from now when we have a single nano sized chip that can imerse us in virtual worlds there will still be normal or large sized PCs doing the harder stuff.

There's no way any of us can comprehend what computers will be in 1000 years, too much can happen..

[kuddlesworth9419]

What about PC hardware.