PC market exceeds expectations with flat shipment Growth: IDC

According to a report by research firm IDC, worldwide shipments of traditional PCs (desktop, notebook, and workstation) totaled 60.4 million units and recorded flat (0.0 percent) year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2018 (1Q18).

The report said that "The results exceeded the earlier forecast of a 1.5 percent decline and mark the third consecutive quarter where traditional PC shipment volume has hovered around flat growth year on year."

The component shortage that initially impacted portions of 2017 led some vendors to stock up inventory to avoid expected component price hikes, and that led to some concerns of excess stock that would be hard to digest in subsequent quarters," said Jay Chou, research manager with IDC's Personal computing Device Tracker. "However, the market is continuing on a resilient path that should see modest commercial momentum through 2020."

The year kicked off with optimism returning to the US PC market, especially on the notebook side," said Neha Mahajan, senior research analyst, Devices & Displays.

"A likely rise in commercial activity amidst a positive economic environment is expected to further strengthen demand. The retail platform to shows signs of stability especially with a fast-growing gaming community adding to the confidence," she said.

While giving regional highlights research firm pointed out that, "The USA market saw a promising opening quarter for the year with almost all major vendors reporting increases in notebook sales. Overall, total PC shipments for 1Q18 stood at 13.5 million units, while In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the traditional PC market showed stable growth for the quarter, benefiting from a positive performance across both product categories.

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Furthermore, report pointed out that HP Inc. maintained a comfortable lead over all others in the market, Lenovo saw a flat quarter in 1Q18, the third consecutive quarter in which the company saw year-on-year volume stabilize with flat global growth and a slower pace of decline in the US, Dell Inc. posted the strongest year-on-year growth out of all the major companies and Acer held onto the fourth position, and Apple finished the quarter in the fifth position with a year-on-year decline in shipments of 4.8 percent.