Global PC Sales Continue To Slump

Worldwide PC sales have fallen to their lowest level in almost a decade according to new estimates. It's also now four years since sales rose year-on-year.

The figures come from analyst Gartner, which gathers together data from a range of sources. Strictly speaking, it estimates shipments to retailers rather than actual sales to consumers and businesses. That can have a lag effect, but doesn't affect overall trends - over the long run, sales affect how many units retailers order. (Source: gartner.com)

According to the company, shipments between January and March this year totaled 64.8 million. That's 9.6 percent lower than the same period last year, and the lowest figure since 2007.

It's part of a long-term trend: sales have fallen consistently over the past year and a half, and the last time year-on-year sales rose to any significant degree was 2012. (Source: zdnet.com)

Global Finances Hurt Sales

Garner says the pattern is partly caused by global financial issues. It points to a big decline in shipments from US manufacturers to other countries, partly because foreign currencies have weakened against the dollar, and partly because heavily populated markets like South America and Russia have experienced economic slowdowns.

Technology is also playing a part. Gartner believes that it used to be the case that as a country got richer, people would buy a computer for the first time, boosting worldwide numbers. Now many people who get together enough cash to spend on computing will upgrade from a basic cellphone to a smartphone rather than get a traditional PC. It's also possible that in richer nations, people may now buy a tablet where they'd previously have bought a laptop as a second machine in their home.

Windows 10 No Magic Bullet

Another notable factor is that Windows 10 has yet to boost PC sales in the way previous systems have done. That may well be because, driver issues aside, Windows 10 works on most existing PCs and thus people are less likely to feel their machine is outdated and needs replacing.

In particular, more expensive models aimed at businesses seem to have taken a hit, with corporate buyers being particularly wary of Windows 10 and waiting to see what fixes and improvements are made before upgrading an office network. That's made more complicated by the new Microsoft policy of frequent updates rather than the more definitive step of a first Service Pack that some business users took as the point at which an upgrade became a safer bet.

What's Your Opinion?

When did you buy your last PC? Do you have firm plans to buy one in the future? Have your buying patterns changed over time?