‘Large computer manufacturers increase market share at the expense of small players’

Major computer makers Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer and Apple increased their global market share in the fourth quarter of 2014, while other manufacturers collectively delivered a fifth fewer systems, claims IDC.

Based on its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, the market researcher claims that 80.8 million computers were delivered in the fourth quarter of 2014. That is a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to a year earlier. In 2014 as a whole, manufacturers delivered 308.6 million systems, a decrease of 2.1 percent, according to the survey.

In the US, the computer market did grow and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region also grew, albeit less than in the US. According to IDC, demand from the business market is declining and the consumer market worldwide is picking up again. However, this involves demand for low-cost systems, such as Chromebooks and Windows with Bing systems.

The five leaders in the computer market mainly benefited from this, according to the research. HP in particular managed to increase its market share and the group would now have Lenovo’s number 1 position again in sight. The Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker concerns preliminary figures that have not always turned out to be correct in the past and the overview should therefore be seen as a rough indication of the market.