NZ PC Shipments Down, Continuing Decline Forecast

High channel inventory, increased smartphone usage and longer device lifespan are being blamed for an 8.3 per cent year-on-year fall in traditional PC shipments in New Zealand.

Commercial PC devices declined 4.8 per cent while consumer shipments fell 12.4 per cent for Q1 2019 when compared to last year.

Lenovo and HP were hit hard by the decline while Acer, Apple and Dell remained fairly steady.

The drop comes after two consecutive quarters of growth, including the final quarter of last year, where shipments exceeded 200,000 on 1.5 per cent year on year growth.

Market intelligence firm IDC New Zealand associate market analyst Liam Landon said commercial shipments were less impacted by the falls because the devices are part of doing business, whereas consumers are less and less convinced they need a traditional PC to complement their smartphone or tablet.

“Both the consumer and commercial markets are anticipated to decline with lengthening lifespans of devices as well as increased usage of smartphones,” Mr Landon said.

IDC expects the decline to continue despite last quarter’s growth and shortages of Intel processors alleviating.