Worldwide PC sales are in freefall ahead of the release of Windows 10, according to new statistics from research firms Gartner and IDC.
Q2 2015 shipments fell to just 68.4 million units, according to Gartner, representing a 9.5 per cent drop from the same period a year ago.
IDC, which doesn’t count tablets as part of its numbers, reports an 11.8 per cent drop year on year, counting Q2 2015 shipments at 66.1 million units.
It’s the most dramatic decline seen by the industry in almost two years.
The numbers paint a worrying picture, but Gartner reckons the outlook will be slightly different at the end of the month, when Windows 10 lands.
The research firm expects the new operating system to boost sales, but maintains that the PC is in decline.
“This year, we expect the market to be down by close to 4 percent compared to 2014,” said Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at Gartner.
Lenovo remains at the top of the pile, with a 2.3 per cent share of the market. HP and Dell are a little way behind the Chinese firm, with 18.5 per cent and 14.55 per cent, respectively.
All three firms gained market share at the expense of smaller PC vendors, including Acer, though all three sold more units in the second quarter of 2014.
IDC says that Apple bucked the general trend, flogging 5,136 computers in Q2 2015, compared to 4,423 units in the same period last year.
SEE ALSO: Best Windows 10 Laptops and Tablets
Last month it was reported that since retailers are struggling to shift a large number of PCs, we could soon see plenty of huge price cuts for consumers.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
