The International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker reports that worldwide PC shipments totalled 80.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a year-on-year decline of 2.4% - a slightly lower drop than predicted last year.
Total shipments were slightly above expectations of a 4.8% decline, but the market still contracted both year-on-year and in comparison to the third quarter, says the IDC.
The research house says the holiday quarter saw shipment volume inch above 80 million for the first time in 2014, but the final quarter nonetheless marked the end of yet another difficult year - the third consecutive year with overall volumes declining. On an annual basis, 2014 shipments totalled 308.6 million units, down 2.1% from the prior year.
Although the US and Europe remained stronger than other markets, the IDC says growth in these mature regions slowed from earlier in the year. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) continued to strengthen, seeing only a very slight increase in volume, as a number of public projects and improving consumer demand helped stabilise the market.
Slowing commercial demand
Similarly, the IDC found, commercial demand, which boosted growth earlier in the year, has slowed, while consumer demand is gradually returning. Nevertheless, the market progress has been fuelled by low-priced systems, including the growth of Chromebooks and the promotion of Windows 8 + Bing.
"The strength from market leaders, as well as improvement in Asia/Pacific and the consumer market more generally, are positive signs for the PC market," said Loren Loverde, IDC VP, Worldwide PC Tracker. "Growth of Chrome, Bing, all-in-ones, ultra-slim, convertibles, and touch systems similarly make PCs more compelling and competitive. Nevertheless, some of the gains are relatively small, and weakening drivers like Bing promotions and end of XP support transitions, cast a shadow of doubt on the strength of the market going into 2015."
PC shipments in Europe, Middle East and Africa posted a slight increase in the fourth quarter, fuelled mainly by strong consumer demand during the holiday season, says the IDC.
"Vendors continued to stock up ahead of Christmas and January promotional sales, and before the February change to Bing promotions, which will exclude 15-inch notebooks. This translated into stronger than expected shipments of portable PCs, while desktop PC sell-in remained softer, particularly in the commercial space.
"Political and economic factors, especially unfavourable exchange rates, also negatively impacted numerous countries across the region," says the IDC.
Beating expectations
Last year's 2.4% decline was slightly lower than the IDC expected. In November, the research house predicted worldwide PC shipments would fall 2.7% in 2014 - which was already an improvement from its previous forecast of 3.7%.
Meanwhile, the IDC said last year the global tablet market is expected to see a massive deceleration in 2014, with year-over-year growth expected to slow to 7.2%, down from 52.5% in 2013.
While this data has not yet been released, the IDC stated earlier that at the core of this slowdown is the expectation that 2014 will represent the first full year of decline in Apple iPad shipments.
"Both the iPad and the overall market slowdown do not come as a surprise, as device life cycles for tablets have continued to lengthen, increasingly resembling those of PCs more than smartphones."
Ryan Reith, programme director with the IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers, noted tablet life cycles were initially expected to be between two to three years, but what has emerged is that "many tablet owners are holding onto their devices for more than three years, and in some instances, more than four years".
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