According to IDC, the global PC market’s unit volume slipped 11.8 percent in the second quarter of 2015, a slightly larger-than-expected dip. As the company notes, the size of the decline reflects a strong second quarter in the year-ago period, when the death of Windows XP bolstered sales of new machines.
In total, some 66.1 million PCs were sold in the three-month period. IDC, it’s worth remembering, doesn’t count “handhelds, x86 Servers [or] Tablets” as PCs, so all detachable devices that might sport a keyboard are off its lists.
Apple performed well in the quarter, seeing its market share rise to a global 7.8 percent, up from 5.9 percent the year before. Of all major PC OEMs, only Apple managed to grow its unit sales in the quarter. That fact mirrors TechCrunch’s prior reporting on Apple’s current PC business.
For the rest, it was rough. Here’s the chart:
IDC expects PC shipments to decline in the single-digit range later this year.
It’s all eyes on Windows 10 for now. Microsoft’s uncompleted operating system debuts for the general public starting at the end of this month. It’s release is staggered, but even given that fact, Windows 10 is all but released.
It isn’t hard to argue that, given Windows 10 impending launch, consumers and companies may be holding off on new PC purchases until its release. If that is true, we should see a PC sales bump. There isn’t too much historical precedent for such an occurrence.
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(That Windows XP’s death, more than Windows 8’s life, sold PCs in the year-ago quarter is oddly funny.)
Place your bets in the comments: Will we see a quarter this year during which the PC market expands? Or is it negative growth all the way down?
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