PC sales flat as consumers opt for smartphones, tablets

PC shipments stagnated in the second quarter of the year as buyers around the world devoted more of their cash to smartphones and tablets, research firm Gardner said in a note published Wednesday. The study said that global PC shipments in the second quarter totalled 87.5 million units, a decline of 0.1 percent from the year-earlier period and a the seventh consecutive quarter of flat to single-digit growth.
"Consumers are less interested in spending on PCs as there are other technology product and services, such as the latest smartphones and media tablets, that they are purchasing," said Mikako Kitagaw, principal analyst at Gartner.
HP continued to be the world's top PC seller with 14.8 million units sold, a 12-per-cent drop from a year earlier. Lenovo sold 12.8 million units, followed by Acer at 9.6 million units, Dell at 9.3 million units and ASUS with 6.1 million units.