PCs Face Historical Decline During Holiday Quarter

Shipments of personal computers fell 10.6% during the fourth quarter to 71.9 million units, the largest year-over-year decline in PC sales on record, according to industry tracker IDC. The data offers the latest evidence of dismal holiday sales for personal computers, with Gartner earlier on Tuesday reporting an 8.3% decline in the fourth quarter. Total shipments for the year dipped below 300 million units for the first time since 2008. The market contracted by 4.3% in the U.S., where IDC says the introduction of higher-end detachable tablets, such as Apple Inc.'s iPad Pro, cannibalized some demand for traditional PCs. Matching Gartner's data, IDC's data also shows a year-over-year decline in PC shipments for market leaders Lenovo, HP Inc. and Dell, while Apple stood as the lone winner.