Global PC Shipments To Fall 5 Percent This Year to 293 Million Units, IDC Says

Worldwide PC shipments are forecast to drop by 4.9 percentage points in 2015, slipping from a previous forecast of a 3.3 percentage point decline, said a report from International Data Corp. (IDC). Global Q4 PC shipments came in 1.7 percent ahead of forecast, but economic and product changes will create a “head wind” in the near term, said IDC. Total 2015 volume is projected at 293.1 million units, which is forecast to drop to 291.4 million units in 2019, it said. In volume, the PC market reached $201 billion last year, slipping 0.8 percent, and it’s expected to fall to $175 billion by 2019, said IDC. Part of the Q4 volume was due to an inventory build up of Windows 8.1+Bing systems in anticipation of Microsoft's scaling back subsidies in early 2015, and that will affect consumer channels short term, said IDC. Recent processor updates, product refreshes from Intel with its Skylake platform and the arrival of Windows 10 should shift OEM product updates and consumer interest in PCs toward later in 2015, it said. "Fortunately for PC makers, tablet growth has slowed," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst. The PC industry has benefited from efforts to “narrow the divide” between PCs and tablets in terms of user experience and price points, he said.