Global PC sales hit lowest point since 2007

Consumers' fading interest in personal computers brought global PC shipments to their lowest levels since 2007.

PC makers shipped 64.8 million units worldwide in the first quarter of 2016, a tally that's 9.6% lower than the same period last year, according to research firm Gartner. With six consecutive declining quarters, PC shipments fell below 65 million units for the first time since 2007, Gartner said.

Dell, which grew its shipments by 3.1%, unseated HP as the top U.S. PC vendor, reclaiming that spot for the first time since 2008. Meanwhile, HP saw its shipments fall 17.3%. The PC company, created in late 2015 when HP split into separate PC and enterprise companies, is focusing on high-end sales, which cost it shipment numbers, Gartner said.

Overall, PC shipments in the U.S. totaled 13.1 million in the first three months of the year, down 6.6% from last year and the lowest in three years.

“There was no particular motivation for U.S. consumers to purchase PCs in the first quarter of 2016," said Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa in a statement accompanying the report. "There have been increased sales of two-in-one PCs, but not enough to offset the decline in desktop and traditional notebook sales.”

Lenovo, the global leader in PC shipments, saw U.S. shipments grow 14.6% and was the only other PC maker to attain an increase in the U.S. Apple saw PC shipments fall 0.3%, while U.S. shipments from Asus fell 13.5%.

Lenovo's worldwide market share grew slightly to 19.3%, followed by HP (17.6%), Dell (14.1%), Asus (8.3) and Apple (7.1%).

Research firm IDC reported similar numbers, finding shipments down 11.5% and forecasting a "relatively weak environment" for the first six months of 2016. Both IDC and Gartner expect that the adoption of Windows 10 by businesses will help drive shipments later this year.

These results from Gartner were "slightly worse" than expected by Wall Street and suggest "continued softness in the PC market," said RBC Capital Markets analysts Amit Daryanani and Mitch Steves in a note to investors Monday.

They expected the PC shipment report to have slightly negative effects on several companies' stocks. Looking ahead, RBC Capital Markets expects a 6% decline in PC shipments for the full year, a gloomier forecast than Gartner's 1.5% decline.

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