Tech

PC shipments hit the lowest level in a decade

Key Points
  • PC shipments are at their lowest levels since 2007, Gartner says.
  • This is in contrast to an IDC report that said the PC market was growing again.
  • Dell seems to be picking up the pace, while Lenovo's shipments dropped substantially.
Actor Ashton Kutcher named Lenovo product engineer and launches Yoga Tablet at YouTube Space LA on October 29, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.
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PC shipments are at the lowest levels since 2007.

Gartner said this week that the PC market declined 4.3 percent during the second quarter. The research company said that shipments were at the "lowest quarter volume since 2007," noting the market dropped for the 11th quarter in a row.

The report is in stark contrast to another from IDC in April which said that the PC market grew for the first time in five years.

Gartner said HP has the largest global market share with 20.8 percent of the market. HP is trailed by Lenovo which has a 19.9 percent share, with shipments down a substantial 8.4 percent since last year. Dell, Apple and Asus finish out the top five players.

In the U.S., Gartner suggests Apple's shipments were down 9.6 percent from last year. The research firm didn't give an explanation for why that might have occurred, though Apple was late to refresh its computers with the latest Intel processors. Upgraded Macs just hit the market last month.

Of note: Dell seems to be the only company finding growth in the PC business. "Dell achieved five consecutive quarters of year-on-year global shipment growth, as shipments increased 1.4 percent in 2Q17," Gartner said. "Dell has put a high priority on PCs as a strategic business. Among the top three vendors, Dell is the only vendor which can supply the integrated IT needs to businesses under the Dell Technologies umbrella of companies."