Worldwide PC shipments totaled 83.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013, according to preliminary results from market research firm Gartner, Inc. (IT). These results indicate a slow, but consistent improvement following more than two years of decline.
Lenovo held onto its position as the worldwide leader in PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2014, with 19.4 percent of the market. Lenovo showed mixed results in the quarter with strong growth in EMEA and the U.S., but shipments declined in Latin America and Japan. The share difference between Lenovo and HP narrowed in the fourth quarter of 2014 with HP growing 16 percent and garnering 18.8 percent of the market.
HP (HPQ) has expressed its commitment to the device market, and it has started to show a positive result with strong growth in the U.S. HP's growth in EMEA and Asia/Pacific also exceeded the regional average.
Dell continued to maintain the third position and accounted for 12.7 percent of the market. The fourth quarter 2014 results indicate that Dell's expansion into the consumer market has been successful, which was the least focused market for the company prior to the leveraged buyout.
In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 18.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 13.1 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013 . This is the fastest growth seen in the market in the last four years. HP showed the strongest growth among the top 5 vendors, as its shipments grew 26.2 percent, and it accounted for 29.2 percent of all shipments in the U.S.
"The fourth quarter of 2014 was the best holiday for PC sales in recent history. The primary driver was mobile PCs including regular notebooks, thin and light notebooks and 2-1s. Low priced notebooks with about a $300-200 price point boosted shipments while thin/light notebooks and two-in-ones (laptops with a detachable or bendable screen) showed strong growth," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.
PC shipments in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) totaled 26.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 2.8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013. The slight growth in EMEA was driven by Western Europe with good consumer notebook shipments during the holiday season. .
The Asia/Pacific PC market showed a modest recovery as PC shipments totaled 26.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 2 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013.
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