Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments in the Third Quarter of 2013 Declined 8.6 Per Cent

The 'Back-to-School' Sales Quarter Experienced Its Lowest PC Volume Since 2008

Worldwide PC shipments totalled 80.3 million units in the third quarter of 2013, an 8.6 per cent decline from the same period last year, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of declining worldwide shipments. "The third quarter is often referred to as the 'back-to-school' quarter for PC sales, and sales this quarter dropped to their lowest volume since 2008," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. "Consumers' shift from PCs to tablets for daily content consumption continued to decrease the installed base of PCs both in mature as well as in emerging markets. A greater availability of inexpensive Android tablets attracted first-time consumers in emerging markets, and as supplementary devices in mature markets."