If there was any lingering doubt that we are now in a post-PC era, the latest figures from Gartner should dispel that notion. PC shipments dropped 6.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2013 as the market in general suffered its worst year since the birth of the personal computer, the research firm said on Thursday.
Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, said that although PC shipments continued to decline in the worldwide market in the fourth quarter, they increasingly believe markets have simply bottomed out as the adjustment to the installed base slows.
What's more, strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets. As such, the first connected device for consumers in these regions is most likely a smartphone and their first computing device is likely a tablet - both of which typically cost less than a traditional PC.
The decline represents the seventh consecutive quarter that shipments have slipped but don't let the statistics fool you too much as there's still plenty of money in the PC market. Worldwide PC shipments still totaled 82.6 million during the quarter
Lenovo, HP and Dell were the three largest computer makers during 2013. Lenovo accounted for 18.1 percent market share, HP finished with 16.4 percent and Dell managed to capture 11.8 percent of all systems sold last year. Acer and Asus also finished in the top five at 7.8 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.