PC shipments continue to drop

The future of computing is mobile, and there is little doubt about it. Although there are still many old-school users around who will always enjoy having a desktop computer around or at least a laptop, large screen handsets and various smart wearables are slowly cannibalizing the share of the market once dominated by desktops and laptops.

Back in early 2015, IDC and Gartner noticed what they considered clear signs that anticipated a recovery of the PC market. Unfortunately, it looks like both research firms were wrong, and the PC market continues to drop. According to their latest reports, the market has dropped about 10 percent in the first quarter of the year.

IDC estimates PC shipments of 60.6 million units and an 11.5 percent decline year over year while Gartner has slightly different numbers - 64.8 million units shipped, and a 9.6 percent drop. The difference between their estimates seems pretty large, but there is a reason for it - while Gartner does not include 2-in-1 tablets in its numbers, IDC does.

Both IDC and Gartner agree on the top 5 PC makers during the quarter - Lenovo, HP, Dell, Asus, and Apple. However, IDC claims all of them shipped fewer units than in Q1 2015 while Gartner says Apple and Asus recorded a small growth (again, due to the inclusion of 2-in-1 convertibles in its numbers).