Apple and Asus defy falling sales trend

PC sales have declined for the sixth consecutive quarter and reached their lowest level since 2007.

Gartner has revealed that worldwide shipments of PCs fell to 64.8 million units in the first quarter of 2016 – 9.6 percent less than the 71.7 million the year before.

This was the sixth consecutive quarterly decline and the first time since 2007 that volumes fell below 65 million units, according to the research group.

In the Asia-Pacific, PC shipments fell 5.1 percent to 23.3 million units.

Lenovo, HP Inc and Dell suffered worldwide declines in PC shipments, although Asus and Apple enjoyed growth.

Lenovo PC shipments fell 7.2 percent to 12.5 million, although the manufacturer’s market share actually increased, from 18.8 to 19.3 percent.

HP Inc shipments declined 9.0 percent to 11.4 million, while its market share climbed from 17.5 to 17.6 percent.

It was a similar story for Dell, whose volumes fell 0.4 percent to 9.1 million as its market share rose from 12.8 to 14.1 percent.

Asus enjoyed gains on both fronts – PC shipments grew 1.5 percent to 5.4 million, while market share grew from 7.4 to 8.3 percent.

Apple also had a double win, with shipments up 1.0 percent to 4.6 million and market share up from 6.4 to 7.1 percent.

Gartner said PCs are not being adopted in new households as they were in the past.

That trend is particularly evident in emerging markets, where smartphones are the priority, according to Gartner.

Gartner revealed earlier this month that worldwide tech spending is falling, although Australia and New Zealand are bucking the trend.