PC Market To Contract Through 2019

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by 4.9% in 2015, worse than the previous forecast of a 3.3% decline, according to data company IDC. Economic headwinds and product changes are expected to create near-term challenges for the market, the company said. IDC also expects there to be a short-term impact from Microsoft Corp.'s inventory of "Windows 8.1 + Bing" systems, as the software giant works to clear its stock. Longer term, the overall valuation of the PC market is projected to decline to $175 billion by 2019 from $201 billion last year, with the biggest percentage decline of 6.9% occurring this year, according to the report. Earlier on Thursday, Intel shaved $1 billion off its full-year revenue outlook, as business customers were slower to upgrade their Microsoft software. Intel also pointed to weaker-than-expected demand for business desktop computers and "increasingly challenging" economic and currency conditions.