Worldwide PC shipments totaled 83.7 million units in the fourth quarter
of 2014, a 1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013, according
to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. These results indicate a slow,
but consistent improvement following more than two years of decline.
"The PC market is quietly stabilizing after the installed base reduction
driven by users diversifying their device portfolios. Installed base PC
displacement by tablets peaked in 2013 and the first half of 2014. Now
that tablets have mostly penetrated some key markets, consumer spending
is slowly shifting back to PCs," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst
at Gartner.
“However, there are regional variations. Mostly, mature regions show an
ongoing trend of positive growth, but emerging markets remain weak,” Ms.
Kitagawa said. “The U.S. showed the highest growth in the fourth quarter
of 2014. In EMEA, the Western Europe PC market also showed good consumer
sales. Emerging markets, on the other hand, still showed weak PC growth.
We attribute this weakness to a strong affinity for smartphones and
tablets in those markets, while PCs are a low priority. Even low priced
notebooks struggle to succeed, because of the different mobile device
usage patterns.”
Lenovo held onto its position as the worldwide leader in PC shipments in
the fourth quarter of 2014, with 19.4 percent of the market (see Table
1). Lenovo showed mixed results in the quarter with strong growth in
EMEA and the U.S., but shipments declined in Latin America and Japan.
The share difference between Lenovo and HP narrowed in the fourth
quarter of 2014 with HP growing 16 percent and garnering 18.8 percent of
the market. HP has expressed its commitment to the device market, and it
has started to show a positive result with strong growth in the U.S.
HP's growth in EMEA and Asia/Pacific also exceeded the regional average.
Table 1 Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment
Estimates for 4Q14 (Thousands of Units)
Company
4Q14 Shipments
4Q14 Market Share (%)
4Q13 Shipments
4Q13 Market Share (%)
4Q14-4Q13 Growth (%)
Lenovo
16,284.8
19.4
15,153.5
18.3
7.5
HP
15,769.6
18.8
13,591.3
16.4
16.0
Dell
10,674.1
12.7
9.810.6
11.8
8.8
Acer Group
6,786.9
8.1
6,083.4
7.3
11.6
ASUS
6,259.8
7.5
6,220.2
7.5
0.6
Others
27,971.5
33.4
32,070.0
38.7
-12.8
Total
83,746.7
100.0
82,929.1
100.0
1.0
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, premium ultramobiles
and all Windows-based tablets. It excludes Chromebooks and other
non-Windows-based tablets. All data is estimated based on a preliminary
study. Final estimates will be subject to change. Source: Gartner
(January 2015)
Dell continued to maintain the third position and accounted for 12.7
percent of the market. The fourth quarter 2014 results indicate that
Dell's expansion into the consumer market has been successful, which was
the least focused market for the company prior to the leveraged buyout.
In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 18.1 million units in the fourth
quarter of 2014, a 13.1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013
(see Table 2). This is the fastest growth seen in the market in the last
four years. HP showed the strongest growth among the top 5 vendors, as
its shipments grew 26.2 percent, and it accounted for 29.2 percent of
all shipments in the U.S.
“The fourth quarter of 2014 was the best holiday for PC sales in recent
history. The primary driver was mobile PCs including regular notebooks,
thin and light notebooks and 2-1s. Low priced notebooks with about a
$300-200 price point boosted shipments while thin/light notebooks and
two-in-ones (laptops with a detachable or bendable screen) showed strong
growth. These results supports our assumption that consumer spending is
returning to the PC as tablet penetration has reached the majority of
the market,” said Ms. Kitagawa.
Table 2 Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment
Estimates for 4Q14 (Units)
Company
4Q14 Shipments
4Q14 Market Share (%)
4Q13 Shipments
4Q13 Market Share (%)
4Q14-4Q13 Growth (%)
HP
5,277.7
29.2
4,182.3
26.1
26.2
Dell
4,086.7
22.6
3,601.8
22.5
13.5
Apple
2,120.0
11.7
1,901.3
11.9
11.5
Lenovo
1,854.7
10.2
1,525.8
9.5
21.6
ASUS
1,231.2
6.8
1,145.8
7.2
7.4
Others
3,527.3
19.5
3,648.8
22.8
-3.3
Total
18,097.5
100.0
16,005.9
100.0
13.1
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, premium ultramobiles
and all Windows-based tablets. It excludes Chromebooks and other
non-Windows-based tablets. All data is estimated based on a preliminary
study. Final estimates will be subject to change. Source: Gartner
(January 2015)
PC shipments in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) totaled 26.5
million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 2.8 percent increase from
the fourth quarter of 2013. The slight growth in EMEA was driven by
Western Europe with good consumer notebook shipments during the holiday
season. The low prices of these devices were enough to take attention
away from Android devices, but had a negative impact on average selling
prices (ASPs) and vendor margins. Given relative price-points, users
were attracted to notebooks and two-in-ones instead of tablets. These
two-in-one hybrid devices performed very well, as users looked at
replacing some older tablets and notebooks with these new devices that
combine features of both.
The Asia/Pacific PC market showed a modest recovery as PC shipments
totaled 26.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 2 percent
increase from the fourth quarter of 2013. Though as a region the news is
positive, there are still growth variations by country. The overall
trend is towards a slowdown of declining growth with mature markets in
Asia/Pacific leading the recovery. This bottoming out of the market
suggests that the installed base is stabilizing, and replacement demand
is recovering.
“However, consumers continue to be attracted to smartphones, especially
in emerging markets such as China and India where it is increasingly
difficult for PC vendors to convince consumers to put priority on PC
purchases,” said Ms. Kitagawa. “Users here are more focused on content
consumption or on specific tasks where functions can be handled by a
smartphone. Coupled with limited disposable income, these buyers are
delaying PC purchases if they do not see the need, therefore making the
consumer market more lackluster than what it used to be.”
Lenovo and HP were in a virtual tie for the overall lead in PC shipments
in 2013. In 2014, Lenovo extended its lead as the top vendor based on
worldwide shipments, as it accounted for 18.8 percent of units shipped
(see Table 3). HP was the No. 2 vendor as its units represented 17.5
percent of shipments in 2014.
Table 3 Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment
Estimates for 2014 (Units)
Company
2014
Shipments
2014 Market
Share (%)
2013
Shipments
2013 Market Share (%)
2014-2013 Growth (%)
Lenovo
59,446.6
18.8
53,493.6
16.9
11.1
HP
55,286.8
17.5
51,251.0
16.2
7.9
Dell
40,487.3
12.8
36,825.0
11.6
9.9
Acer Group
24,914.0
7.9
25,309.2
8.0
-1.6
Asus
22,841.6
7.2
20,852.5
6.6
9.5
Others
112,890.1
35.7
128,733.5
40.7
-12.3
Grand Total
315,866.3
100.0
316,464.7
100.0
-0.2
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, premium ultramobiles
and all Windows-based tablets. It excludes Chromebooks and other
non-Windows-based tablets. All data is estimated based on a preliminary
study. Final estimates will be subject to change. Source: Gartner
(January 2015)
These results are preliminary. Final statistics will be available soon
to clients of Gartner's PC Quarterly Statistics Worldwide by Region
program. This program offers a comprehensive and timely picture of the
worldwide PC market, allowing product planning, distribution, marketing
and sales organizations to keep abreast of key issues and their future
implications around the globe.
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