Weak growth for two consecutive quarters, up 0.1% year-on-year
Lenovo leads the global PC market, recording 10.7% growth.
Demand for mid-range and premium products remains strong in the Asia Pacific region.
Gartner has released preliminary results on global personal computer (PC) shipments in the third quarter of 2018.

According to Gartner, global PC shipments totaled 67.2 million units in the third quarter of 2018, a 0.1% increase year-over-year. The global PC market reversed six years of decline and recorded weak growth for the second consecutive quarter.

In the third quarter of 2018, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, and Japan all experienced growth, while the United States and South America experienced declines. South America, in particular, experienced a stable start to 2018 but saw the largest decline in PC shipments this quarter, with an 8.5% decline.

"The PC market was driven by steady demand for business PCs, driven by Windows 10 PC hardware upgrades," said Mikako Kitagaqa, senior research analyst at Gartner. The Windows 10 upgrade cycle is expected to continue into 2020, when upgrade demand will likely subside," he said. "Despite the generally strong third quarter in consumer PC sales due to the start of the new school year, continued weakness in consumer PC demand offset the strong sales in the corporate PC market."

He continued, “It is difficult to attribute the third quarter results to the impact of components, but the Intel CPU shortage could impact the future PC market in the form of price increases and changes in the company landscape. Gartner expects this shortage to have a short-term impact and not have a lasting impact on overall PC demand.” He added, “The shortage is expected to continue until 2019, but Intel will prioritize high-end CPUs and CPUs for business PCs. Among them, AMD will take over some markets where Intel’s CPUs are not supplied.”
Lenovo secured the top spot in the global PC market with 10.7% growth, fueled by strong sales in the commercial market and the acquisition of Fujitsu. HP fell to second place, but achieved year-over-year shipment growth for the fourth consecutive quarter. HP's desktop shipments demonstrate strong demand from the corporate sector.

Dell posted its tenth consecutive quarter of shipment growth in the third quarter of 2018, growing 5.3%. In particular, the company performed well, achieving growth in both desktop and mobile PC segments in EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Japan. However, shipments declined in South America and the US due to a weak mobile PC market.

PC shipments in the Asia Pacific region totaled 24.3 million units, a 0.3% increase compared to the third quarter of 2017. This increase was driven by demand for commercial PCs. While consumer sales continue to lag, demand for mid-range and premium products remains strong, indicating consumers are seeking products with features, specifications, and quality that meet their specific needs. PC shipments in China increased 0.8% in the third quarter of 2018, continuing a recovery from a multi-quarter decline.

All figures above are preliminary results from Gartner's research. Final figures will be provided to clients of Gartner's Regional Program's Worldwide Quarterly PC Statistics report.