Recently we’ve seen faltering notebook sales courtesy of NPD Group, and now the latest numbers from IDC show that worldwide PC shipments continue to fall. A grand total of 89.8 million PCs were shipped during the fourth quarter of 2012, down 6.4 percent compared to the same period in 2011. The numbers for the whole of 2012 were also down 3.2 percent, with PC manufacturers shifting 352.4 million units overall.
IDC: Worldwide PC shipments declining faster than projected
The falling numbers mark a grim milestone as well, with IDC saying that this is the first time in over five years that sales declined year-on-year during the holiday season. The launch of Windows 8, then, doesn’t seem to have had much effect in the wake of tablets. Microsoft and its partners weren’t the only ones seeing declines, though, as Apple also saw a minor drop compared to last year’s numbers, most likely due to cannibalization from the iPad.
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