PC sales expected to fall further, 'will never regain peak 2011 volumes'

Global PC shipments are set to decline by 9.7 per cent this year as tablets and smartphones continue to take a bite out of the traditional computer market.
The new forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) states that the market as a whole will dip in 2014 by around two per cent, with growth of one per cent expected for 2015.
IDC said the market will "never regain the peak volumes last seen in 2011".
It added that slowing sales in China, increased competition with tablets and smartphones, anxiety over the "possible tapering" of US' quantitative easing program, and weaker PC demand will mean emerging markets are likely to see declines through 2014 at least.
But it's not all bad news.
"The days where one can assume tablet disruptions are purely a First World problem are over," said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly PC Trackers at IDC. "Advances in PC hardware, such as improvements in the power efficiency of x86 processors remain encouraging, and Windows 8.1 is also expected to address a number of well-documented concerns.
"However, the current PC usage experience falls short of meeting changing usage patterns that are spreading through all regions, especially as tablet price and performance become ever more attractive."
Rajani Singh, Research Analyst, Client Computing, added: "The second quarter of 2013 was the third consecutive quarter where the US market came through stronger than the worldwide market. This was largely due to some recovery in the overall economy and channel inventory replenishment.
"Following the stronger than expected Q2 2013, we expect the second half of 2013 to restore some volume momentum driven largely by better channel involvement of top vendors and industry restructuring/alignment."

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