Gartner: PC shipments have dropped 6.9 percent in Q4 2013, emerging markets to blame

Those tumbling PC shipments we've seen all year? They add up to a 6.9 percent year-over-year drop compared to 2012's Q4 numbers, according to Gartner. The group's latest totals puts PC shipments at 82.6 million units for Q4 2013, with the lions share coming from HP and Lenovo - though only the latter managed to grow its business during that period. Dell came in at a distant third, moving 4 million fewer machines than HP while maintaing a 6.2 percent increases in shipments since Q4 2012. The news seems grim for all but a select free companies, but at least it won't get any worse: Gartner says that most markets have bottomed out, and the losses mostly come from emerging Asia/Pacific markets where consumers first computing devices are typically smartphones and tablets, not traditional PCs. Despite predictions that the US market has reached its lowest point, analysts note that holiday sales were primarily dominated by tablets and mobile devices, though optimistically note that hybrid devices and lower cost notebooks could spur some growth in 2014. Eager to dive into all the nitty gritty numbers? Hit the source link below for Gartner's full report.