In Thursday, Gartner released its preliminary calculations of PC shipments for Q2 of 2013, and showed worldwide shipments falling by 11% over the year-ago quarter. The U.S. market performed better than the global market, but still showed a decline of 1.4%.
“We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC. This is also accounting for the collapse of the mini notebook market.”
Gartner shows Apple underperforming the overall U.S. industry, with the Mac builder posting a 4.3% decline in shipments, vs. the 1.4% decline in the PC market overall. While Apple held on to third-place in the U.S. market, trailing only HP and Dell, fourth-place Lenovo looms large in Apple’s rear-view mirror, with its 20% year-over-year growth in the U.S.
Worldwide, Apple doesn’t make a showing in the worldwide top five vendors according to Gartner, as Asus holds the fifth spot with 6.0% of the market.
