Q4 PC Unit Sales Fell Only 1.5%, in Further Sign of ‘Market Stabilization,’ Says IDC

Global shipments of “traditional” PCs, including desktops, laptops and work stations, totaled 70.2 million units in 2016's fourth quarter, down 1.5 percent from Q4 a year earlier, IDC said in a Wednesday report. The Q4 results “continued the recent trend of stabilizing growth” in the PC market, which has been in steady decline the past four years, it said. For all of 2016, total shipments declined 5.7 percent to 260 million units, it said. The Q4 results “reinforce our expectations for market stabilization, and even some recovery," said IDC. "The contraction in traditional PC shipments experienced over the past five years finally appears to be giving way as users move to update systems. We have a good opportunity for traditional PC growth in commercial markets, while the consumer segment should also improve as it feels less pressure from slowing phone and tablet markets." Despite a 3 percent decline in unit shipments from 2015, Lenovo held its spot as the top global brand in 2016 with 21.3 percent share but lost ground to No. 2 HP (20.9 percent share) and No. 3 Dell (15.7 percent), both of which had shipment increases, IDC said.