Five consecutive quarters of sliding PC sales mark a new industry record

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Lenovo continues to edge out the dying PC industry with 16.7 percent market share.

In case you weren’t totally sure that the PC manufacturing industry was on the decline, consider this: there have now been five quarters in a row of declining shipments of PCs, the “longest duration of decline in the PC market’s history,” according to new analysis from Gartner Research.

In new data published on Wednesday, global shipments fell to 76 million units in the second quarter of 2013, down 10.9 percent from the same period in 2012. IDC, meanwhile, put the drop at 11.7 percent.

And as we indicated the last time these numbers came out, Lenovo seems to be the only PC maker that isn’t losing customers at anywhere near the rate of its competitors. This time, once again, it edged out its nearest rival, HP, shipping about 12.6 million PCs. Lenovo retains a slight edge on HP’s market share, according to both Gartner and IDC, with 16.7 percent.

So what are people buying instead? Tablets. (Duh.)

“We are seeing the PC market reduction directly tied to the shrinking installed base of PCs, as inexpensive tablets displace the low-end machines used primarily for consumption in mature and developed markets,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. “In emerging markets, inexpensive tablets have become the first computing device for many people, who at best are deferring the purchase of a PC. This is also accounting for the collapse of the mini notebook market.”

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