Stefan Mileschin

IDC said that worldwide shipments of PCs in the first quarter of this year amounted to 68.5 million – a fall of 6.7 percent compared to the same quarter last year. It tracks the PC market worldwide, taking in data from 80 odd countries.

PCs did well in the second half of 2014, said IDC – largely due to people upgrading from Windows XP and also because of a frenzy of cost cutting.

Shipments in the quarter were the lowest since the first quarter of 2009, but nevertheless IDC finds light at the end of the PC tunnel.

Rajani Singh, a senior research analyst, thinks that Windows 10 will represent the best bits of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

“There is pent up demand for replacements of older PCs,: he said. “Only part of the installed base needs to replace systems to keep the overall growth rate above zero for the rest of the year.”

He warned that pressure on prices meant there is likely to be more consolidation in the PC market, with vendors deciding the margins are too slim.

Of the existing vendors, Lenovo remained number one, shipping 13.4 million units in the quarter.

HP came in at number two, and shipped close to 13 million PCs.

Dell was number three, and shipped over 9.2 million units. However, that represented a year on year decline of 6.3 percent Acer and Asus came up at the rear.

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