Windows XP end-of-life boosts PC shipments

PC shipments have been boosted by the demise of Windows XP with shipments up by five percent compared to the previous year.

Figures from Canalys showed that 123.7 million PCs were shipped worldwide in Q1 2014 and Lenovo was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this growth as its PC shipments totaled 15 million and increased its market share from 10 percent to 12 percent.

"Lenovo was quick to move with new form factors and its Yoga line now dominates the global convertible notebook market," said Canalys Analyst James Wang.

The press release added that PC shipments across the globe "have been lifted by the end of life of Windows XP" but it still wasn’t enough for notebooks to close the gap on a tablet PC market that continues to outstrip its older sibling.

Growth in tablet shipments was shown to have slowed to 21 percent to reach 50.8 million units, though they still account for 41 percent of the market whereas notebooks are lagging behind on 38 percent.

Even with this kind of tablet optimism there was worrying news in that it illustrated a slowing of tablet sales that is already being sorely felt by Apple where iPad shipments showed a decrease of 16 percent worldwide and a 40 percent drop in the US.

"The fall in iPad shipments in Q1 was the sharpest ever," said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Coulling. "Apple took action during the quarter to run down its iPad inventory, a smart move as tablet stock in the channel rose due to strong seasonal shipments in the previous quarter. Longer term, we do not believe Apple’s Q1 performance points to a decline in the tablet category, despite growing pressure from larger-screen smart phones".

Even with this being the case it continues to lead the tablet and PC market worldwide and the addition of Office for iPad was mentioned as a factor that will help it to maintain the lead "for some time".

Apple’s long time rival Samsung suffered an even worse quarter as it fell to fourth position in the PC shipment sector due to its exit from the mainstream notebook sector and a "significant sequential decline" in shipments stemming from mounting inventory.

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