According to preliminary results by Gartner, worldwide PC shipments totaled 61.1 million units in the second quarter of 2017, a 4.3 percent decline from the second quarter of 2016. The PC industry is in the midst of a 5 year slump, and this is the 11th straight quarter of declining shipments. Shipments in the second quarter of this year were the lowest quarter volume since 2007.
“Higher PC prices due to the impact of component shortages for DRAM, solid state drives (SSDs) and LCD panels had a pronounced negative impact on PC demand in the second quarter of 2017,” said Mikako Kitagawa, Principal Analyst at Gartner. “The approach to higher component costs varied by vendor. Some decided to absorb the component price hike without raising the final price of their devices, while other vendors transferred the costs to the end-user price.”
However, in the business segment, vendors could not increase the price too quickly, especially in large enterprises where the price is typically locked in based on the contract, which often run through the quarter or even the year,” Kitagawa said. “In the consumer market, the price hike has a greater impact as buying habits are more sensitive to price increases. Many consumers are willing to postpone their purchases until the price pressure eases.”
Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q17 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 2Q17 Shipments | 2Q17 Market Share (%) | 2Q16 Shipments | 2Q16 Market Share (%) | 2Q17-2Q16 Growth (%) |
| HP Inc. | 12,690 | 20.8 | 12,285 | 19.2 | 3.3 |
| Lenovo | 12,188 | 19.9 | 13,305 | 20.8 | -8.4 |
| Dell | 9,557 | 15.6 | 9,421 | 14.7 | 1.4 |
| Apple | 4,236 | 6.9 | 4,252 | 6.7 | -0.4 |
| Asus | 4,036 | 6.6 | 4,501 | 7.0 | -10.3 |
| Acer Group | 3,850 | 6.3 | 4,402 | 6.9 | -12.5 |
| Others | 14,546 | 23.8 | 15,710 | 24.6 | -7.4 |
| Total | 61,105 | 100.0 | 63,876 | 100.0 | 4.3 |
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface), but not Chromebooks or iPads.
Source: Gartner (July 2017)
The Chromebook market has been growing much faster than the overall PC market. Gartner does not include Chromebook shipments within the overall PC market, but it is moderately impacting the PC market. Worldwide Chromebook shipments grew 38 percent in 2016, while the overall PC market declined 6 percent.
“The Chromebook is not a PC replacement as of now, but it could be potentially transformed as a PC replacement if a few conditions are met going forward,” Kitagawa said. “For example, infrastructure of general connectivity needs to improve; mobile data connectivity needs to become more affordable; and it needs to have more offline capability.”
Table 2
Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q17 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 2Q17 Shipments | 2Q17 Market Share (%) | 2Q16 Shipments | 2Q16 Market Share (%) | 2Q17-2Q16 Growth (%) |
| HP Inc. | 4,270 | 30.5 | 4,008 | 27.0 | 6.5 |
| Dell | 3,874 | 27.7 | 3,801 | 25.6 | 1.9 |
| Lenovo | 1,848 | 13.2 | 2,207 | 14.9 | -16.3 |
| Apple | 1,649 | 11.8 | 1,825 | 12.3 | -9.6 |
| Asus | 447 | 3.2 | 754 | 5.1 | -40.7 |
| Others | 1,921 | 13.7 | 2,257 | 15.2 | -14.9 |
| Total | 14,009 | 100.0 | 14,852 | 100.0 | -5.7 |
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs and ultramobile premiums (such as Microsoft Surface), but not Chromebooks or iPads.
Source: Gartner (July 2017)
PC shipments in EMEA totaled 17 million units in the second quarter of 2017, a 3.5 percent decline year over year. There were mixed results across various countries.
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon to clients of Gartner’s PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future implications around the globe.
