A stable PC market remains as "elusive" as ever IDC remarks as it reduces earlier 2016 forecasts-- the analyst says global 2016 shipments will drop by -7.3%, roughly -2% below earlier projections by the analyst.
The cause for such declines are "weaker than expected" conditions caused by weak currencies, depressed commodity prices, political uncertainty and delayed projects. Further confirming such conditions are Q1 2016 shipment drops reaching -12.6% Y-o-Y, down from IDC forecasts of -11.3%.
On the consumer side the shipments remain constrained by financial pressures across regions and a variety of alternatives,such as delaying a PC replacement by using the free Windows 10 upgrade or using a mobile device. Meanwhile on the enterprise side companies are still evaluating Windows 10, meaning commercial PC shipments are still to stablise.
Adding further competition are detachable tablets-- in fact, combining detachable devices with PCs brings about 2016 shipment declines of just -2%, with later years even showing "small" positive growth.
"The latest update reflects continuing pressure on PC shipments, but does not significantly change the factors driving the market," IDC concludes. "In addition, we have now had 4 consecutive quarters of double-digit volume declines. This type of prolonged slump is unprecedented, and lowers the bar for some improvement going forward. Unfortunately, the PC market still faces some persistent challenges, and for now, improvement continues to mean slower declines."