
Gartner Says 2016 Marked Fifth Consecutive Year of Worldwide PC Shipment Decline - danieldk
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3568420
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kukx
It's not a surprise as a PC usability-span gets longer the rate of replacement
gets lower.

~~~
croon
That is possibly the big one I would say. I can only refer to data like in OP,
but I feel (yes, baseless statement) like the PC industry has only gotten
bigger in recent years. When I've seen results like this before I've tried to
find reports on PC components instead (to no avail).

Could it be that casual users can do all their tasks on their phones/tablets
now compared to 10 years ago, while the enthusiasts build their PC:s from
scratch, thus hollowing out the OEM PC market, leaving only laptops?

~~~
kbart
_" Could it be that casual users can do their all their tasks on their
phones/tablets now compared to 10 years ago, while the enthusiasts build their
PC:s from scratch, thus hollowing out the OEM PC market, leaving only
laptops?"_

I too think that's exactly the point. Average user doesn't need desktop PC
anymore and buys smartphones, tablets, consoles instead, while power users and
gamers usually build their rig from srcatch. Also, there's no need to upgrade
PC every two years as technologies (maybe except GPUs) doesn't evolve as fast
as it was used to. TL;DR it's not PC market that's shrinking, but a _branded_
PC market.

~~~
hyperpallium
The smartphone factor does suggest a shrinkimg PC market.

Further, now even smartphones are more powerful than average users need, so
e.g. the iPhone 5s is still selling well.

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kryptiskt
For the whole year Apple declined faster than the market. 2.4% year-on-year
growth isn't impressive considering that they finally refreshed their product
line in that quarter.

~~~
spiderfarmer
If only they did refresh their product line. iMacs, Mac pros and Mac Minis
were sadly neglected.

~~~
simonh
True, but i think we're going to just have to get used to longer refresh
cycles for the Mac. To be fair to Apple if users make their machines last a
few years longer, there's less drive to refresh to product as frequently. That
doesn't mean Apple is abandoning the Mac, it just means they're adjusting to
the market.

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bryanlarsen
Looks to me like the story is that enterprise sales are up (HP, Dell) while
consumer sales are down (Acer, Asus, Others). Companies that are strong in
both markets are flat (Apple, Lenovo).

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bitcharmer
I stopped reading after "Gartner says...". Their predictions have a terrible
track record and I am genuinely amazed by how much attention they are still
getting.

[http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-does-the-it-industry-
contin...](http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-does-the-it-industry-continue-to-
listen-to-gartner/#)! [https://www.engadget.com/2015/01/05/in-2011-gartner-
made-thi...](https://www.engadget.com/2015/01/05/in-2011-gartner-made-this-
hilarious-prediction-about-the-iphone/)

~~~
croon
While I agree about their preductions, OP was a 2016 sales estimate, not a
prediction.

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simonh
Up to 2014 Gartner reported on the top 5 companies by global PC shipments. For
a long time, Apple was number 6 but wasn't included.

Then in 2015, Apple became number 5 rather than Acer Group. So did Acer drop
off the list? No, suddenly Gartner started reporting on the top 6
manufacturers by global shipments. Interesting.

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igravious
This is editorialising! (HN title currently is “Mac sales grow amid PC
decline”) The actual title is "Gartner Says 2016 Marked Fifth Consecutive Year
of Worldwide PC Shipment Decline"

Furthermore, given the data

    
    
        Lenovo     15,781    21.7    15,535    20.6    1.6
        HP Inc.    14,808    20.4    14,204    18.8    4.3
        Dell       10,723    14.8    10,175    13.5    5.4
        Asus        5,452     7.5     5,960     7.9   -8.5
        Apple       5,440     7.5     5,312     7.0    2.4
        Acer Group  4,999     6.9     5,228     6.9   -4.4
    

and given that _Macs are PCs_ you could also title this, “Of the top six PC
vendors Apple grew third strongest but remains in fifth position; Windows PCs
remain dominant amid overall market decline”

~~~
pjmlp
> Macs are PCs

Apple doesn't agree with you.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eEG5LVXdKo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eEG5LVXdKo)

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zihotki
Original topic - Gartner Says 2016 Marked Fifth Consecutive Year of Worldwide
PC Shipment Decline. Mac sales grew a tiny bit in 2016 but that doesn't imply
that they are still growing.

~~~
NathanOsullivan
Not only that - Dell, HP and Lenovo sales also grew YoY in 4Q16 with Dell and
HP both having higher increase in both %age and absolute terms than Apple.

