PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2016 continued their downward slide. IDC reports that there were about 482,506 units shipped in that time, down by 6.2 percent over the same period last year.
These numbers really shouldn’t surprise anyone, seeing that the PC industry has been shrinking for the last few years. Unsuprisingly, it was the desktop PC market that suffered the most. Shipments of desktops dropped 13.7 percent from last year, driven by consumers who prefer mobile devices.
This was also evident by the fact that laptop shipments only dipped by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. That said, it was the commercial and enterprise purchases that sustained the market; and not regular consumers.
IDC doesn’t expect things to pick up for PC shipments this year either. Analysts at the firm believe that shipments will fall by as much as 8.1 percent over the course of 2017. This low number being helped along by uncertainties brought by the upcoming general election, and the introduction of the GST.
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