PC shipments decline in Q1; mobile PCs, hybrids pick up

Global PC shipments - desktops, notebooks and laptops - witnessed a decline in the range of 5.2-6.7 percent in the first quarter this year, research firms IDC and Gartner said on Friday.

However, both the firms said that the decline in PC shipments numbers is less than their expectations. IDC said that Worldwide PC shipments touched 68.5 million units in January-March 2015, a year-on-year fall of 6.7 percent , whereas Gartner pegged the global shipments at 71.7 million units with a decline 5.2 percent , the research firms said in separate statements.

"PC shipments beat expectations despite weak currencies and product transitions," IDC said. Gartner Principal Analyst Mikako Kitagawa said that PC industry received a boost in 2014 as many firms replaced their PCs due to the end of Windows XP support, but that replacement cycle faded in the first quarter of 2015. However, the decline is not necessarily a sign of sluggish PC sales in long term.

"Mobile PCs, including notebooks, hybrid and Windows tablets grew compared with a year ago. The first quarter results support our projection of a moderate decline of PC shipments in 2015, which will lead to a slow, consistent growth stage for the next five years," he added.