IDC: PC Sales Even Worse Than Expected

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Market research firm IDC had previously predicted that the first quarter of 2013 would see sluggish PC sales, with shipments declined more than 5 percent year-over-year. However, now the firm says things are even worse than it anticipated, and it now predicts a 7.7 percent decrease.

The Wall Street Journal’s Debbie Cai reported, “World-wide personal-computer shipments are likely to miss forecasts following slower-than-expected growth in China in the first quarter, said market researcher International Data Corp. The slow February results and modest March business are expected to lower first-quarter global PC shipments by roughly 2% from recent forecasts, IDC said. Government budget cuts and anticorruption measures are slowing PC purchases in China more than expected, the researcher said. The timing of Lunar New Year also contributed to the quarter’s weak results.”

All Thinds D’s Arik Hesseldahl added, “The market is now expected to decline by 7.7 percent, which is 2 percentage points worse than previously expected. And it could get still worse. The firm won’t rule out a further drop into a double-digit percentage decline before a possible recovery mid-year. The latest assessment comes only a few days after IDC released figures showing unabated growth in the market for tablets, which have been cutting into PC sales for years now.”

TechCrunch’s Catherine Shu noted, “The Chinese market accounted for over 21 percent of global shipments in 2012. Slowdown in PC shipments is partially due to the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday and other expected factors, but budget cuts introduced by the government as well as anti-corruption measures also decreased purchases more than expected. Though shipments should recover somewhat in China, it will not be enough to make up for the dip in shipments during February, said IDC.”

Barron’s quoted IDC, which said, “Other monthly results indicate close-to-forecast market performance in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America, and Asia/Pacfic (excluding Japan)(APeJ) while supply chain data indicate room for a slightly larger downward adjustment.”