By RTT News, March 04, 2013, 10:49:00 PM EDT
(RTTNews.com) - Market intelligence services provider International Data Corp. or IDC, said Monday that global PC shipments are expected to decline for the second consecutive year in fiscal 2013 "despite intense industry efforts to overcome market inertia", according to data from its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Global PC shipment volume decreased 3.7 percent in 2012.
IDC revealed in its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker that global PC shipments will decline 1.3 percent in 2013 to 345.8 million units from last year's 350.4 million units.
PC shipments in emerging markets in 2013 are expected to edge up 0.6 percent, while is is projected to decline 4.0 percent in mature markets, compared to a 1.4 percent and 6.9 percent drop in emerging markets and mature markets, respectively, in 2012.
IDC noted that mature markets include U.S., Western Europe, Japan, and Canada, while emerging markets include Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America, Central and Eastern Africa, Middle East and Africa.
IDC said 2012 marked the first year that emerging markets have seen a volume decline, while it is expected to return to growth in 2013. However, mature market volumes is projected to decline for the third consecutive year, and limited growth is seen in 2014 and 2015, with contracting volumes in later years.
The bleak growth prospects for PC shipments are attributable to the disappointing response to Windows 8 and a more varied and less expensive offering of ultrathin notebooks, both of which the PC industry was 'banking on' to revive demand.
"The PC market is still looking for updated models to gain traction and demonstrate sufficient appeal to drive growth in a very competitive market," said Loren Loverde, Program Vice President, Worldwide PC Trackers at IDC.
"Growth in emerging regions has slowed considerably, and we continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features," Loverde added.
Meanwhile, the U.S. PC market has struggled and saw a year-over-year drop of 7.6 percent in 2012 PC shipment volumes. The weakness is expected to persist at least during the first half of 2013.
Looking ahead for the U.S. market, IDC Research Analyst Rajani Singh said, "IDC expects the second half of 2013 to regain some marginal momentum partly as a rubber band effect from 2012, and largely thanks to the outcome of industry restructuring, better channel involvement, and potentially greater acceptance of Windows 8. We also anticipate a new refresh cycle momentum in the commercial segment driven by the end of Window XP life support."
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