Emerging Market Slump Prevents PC Industry Growth

Despite surprisingly strong PC sales in mature markets, the global PC industry was not able to continue its upward trend in the third quarter of 2014. According to Gartner's estimates, global PC shipments amounted to 79.4 million units between June and September, marking a 0.5 percent decline from last year's third quarter total.

As opposed to the smartphone market, where mature markets slow down global growth, the PC industry suffered from weak sales in emerging markets for the second consecutive quarter. While shipments increased significantly in the United States and in EMEA, lower income markets didn't perform as well. According to Gartner, low income consumers often opt for low-price tablets instead of PCs, while the consumer segments that can afford a PC are becoming increasingly saturated.