PC Market Sees Huge Sales Drop

Down 14 percent from last year

It's really ugly in the PC market right now. How ugly? About the worst it has ever been, according to new reports from a couple tech research firms.

First-quarter global computer shipments dropped 14 percent from the previous year, International Data Corp., much worse than its forecast for a 7.7 percent decline. The pullback marked the worst ever quarter since IDC began tracking quarterly PC shipments in 1994, and it's the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year shipment declines.

Rival tech research firm Gartner, meanwhile, said its data showed an 11 percent decline in first-quarter global PC shipments, with the number falling below 80 million units for the first time since the second quarter of 2009.