Economics

PC Market Sees Huge Sales Drop

Down 14 percent from last year

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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.