Gartner reports EMEA PC shipments total 26.5 million units in Q4 2014-- a "slight" 2.8% Y-o-Y increase driven by consumer notebook shipments drawing attention away from Android devices during the holiday season.
However the lower price points of such devices (specifically notebooks and 2-in-1 hybrids) leads to a drop in ASPs and vendor margins, even as hybrids are performing "very well" by serving as a replacement for both older notebooks and tablets, leading customers to hit two birds with one device stone.
From a global perspective Q4 2014 PC shipments are also up, if slightly-- specifically by 1% Y-o-Y to reach 83.7m units, an indication of "slow but consistent" improvement following over 2 years of decline.
"The PC market is quietly stabilising after the installed base reduction driven by users diversifying their device portfolios," Gartner says. "Installed base PC displacement by tablets peaked in 2013 and the first half of 2014. Now that tablets have mostly penetrated some key markets, consumer spending is slowly shifting back to PCs."
Lenovo leads in the WW vendor rankings, as it takes over 18.3% Q4 2014 market share with shipments reaching 16.2m units and 7.5% Y-o-Y growth. HP follows with 18.8% share and 16% Y-o-Y growth as it commits itself to the devices market.
Dell retains 3rd place, accounting for 12.7% of the Q4 2014 market, followed by Acer (8.1% share) and Asus (7.5%).
