14 DAY TRIAL // They say familiarity is reassuring, even if it might breed contempt over time, but the way PC shipments met general expectations in the fourth quarter of 2013 is not reassuring at all.
At least not for the ones that make PCs anyway. Consumers won't be all that affected, since it is they that have been shifting focus to phones, tablets, multimedia devices and other gadgets.
Anyway, PC shipments fell in the fourth quarter of 2013. According to Gartner, they were of 82.6 million units, which is a figure 6.9% below the one registered in 2012.
You would think that, being the holiday shopping season (October-December), sales would have gone better, but they did not.
It goes to show that 6.9% of consumers are more interested in all the other product categories we listed above, or decided to buy something other than tech as X-mas presents for their loved ones.
It might also have to do with how IFA 2013, back in September, was rife with curved displays, huge flat panel, awesome cameras, smartwatches and high-end smartphones.
In other words, few new things appeared that could interest the common man, especially on the PC front that got sidelined by tablets and television sets at the Berlin trade show.
That said, HP and Lenovo are fighting over the top worldwide PC supplier spot, although Lenovo is in the lead right now, with 18.1% of the total in Q4 (14.9 million shipments).
HP has 16.4% (13.6 million) and is followed by Dell (11.8%, 9.7 million), Acer (7.8%, 6.4 million) and ASUS (6.5%, 5.3 million). Everyone else has 39.3% / 32.4 million split between them.
All things considered, it's not so shocking that companies like LG are thinking of leaving the PC market entirely. Especially since this year, with 3D printing on the rise and wearable gadgets taking of, interest in traditional personal computers will only slide lower.