Global PC shipments in the first quarter reached 123.7 million units

According to a report released on May 13 by the market research organization Canalys, shipments of global client PCs in the first quarter of this year were 123.7 million units, a year-on-year increase of 5%. Among them, tablet PC shipments were 50.8 million units. Although their shipment growth rate has dropped to 21%, tablet shipments still exceeded notebook shipments.

Among the client PC shipments in the first quarter, tablet computers accounted for 41%, and laptop computers accounted for 38%.

From a regional perspective, the Western European market continues to grow while the North American market remains unchanged. This has a certain relationship with the continued growth in commercial sales in these two regions. Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP system is an important factor to promote the growth of global commercial PC shipments, it even affects the sales of desktop computers. In the first quarter, global desktop PC shipments remained the same as last year.

However, it is worth noting that in the world's second-largest PC market, China, the first-quarter shipments of notebook computers and desktop computers decreased by 13% and 6% respectively year-on-year.

In the tablet area, the regions with the fastest growth in shipments include: Middle East (100%), Greater China (74%), and Central and Eastern Europe (47%). In fact, in addition to the North American market, the market growth rates in other regions are relatively impressive.

The North American market was clearly affected by the drop in iPad shipments. iPad first quarter shipments fell 40% year-on-year. This offsets the 20% increase in shipment volume achieved by the product in the Chinese market. Globally, iPad shipments in the first quarter were only 16.4 million units, down 16% year-on-year, and iPads accounted for 80% of Apple PC sales. Despite this, Apple still leads the global PC market.

Canalys said that due to increased competition in the tablet PC market, Apple’s share in the global PC market has dropped from 20% in the same period last year to 17%.

Lenovo performed well in the first quarter, with 15 million PC shipments in the first quarter, and its share of the global PC market increased from 10% in the same period last year to 12%. Lenovo achieved year-on-year growth in all areas of the PC market, and it now ranks first, second and third in the market for notebooks, desktops and tablets.

After four consecutive quarters of decline, Lenovo's PC shipments in the domestic market finally stabilized, and it is basically the same as the shipments in the first quarter of 2013. The EMEA market was the main source of Lenovo's PC growth in the first quarter. Its PC shipments in the region increased by 61% year-on-year.

Samsung's PC shipments in the first quarter fell sharply year-on-year, and its ranking in the global PC market has now dropped to fourth place. Samsung has already withdrawn from the mainstream notebook market. Due to high inventory, Samsung's notebook shipments in the first quarter continued to decline.

Hewlett-Packard's PC shipments reached 12.9 million units in the first quarter, and the corresponding market share in the global market was 11%. It thus recaptured the third position. All of HP's PC products have achieved growth in the first quarter, and the recovery of corporate users has also provided tremendous help.