Northern, WI 1/12/2013 (Avauncer) –The dip in demand for personal computers has become evident that it went down to an all time low in the fourth quarter of 2012. The rate of shipment fell down by 6.4 % during this period, which is the first of its kind holiday-season fall since 2011. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the new age consumers and retailers have shifted their interest to Smartphone’s and tablet PCs as per the report of researcher IDC.

The Global Scenario

Accordingly to Framingham, a Massachusetts-based IDC, the worldwide personal computer shipment had a clear dip of 3.2 % in year 2012; the percentage had been tremendously dragged down by the lesser demand during the holiday season towards the yearend. The case was different in 2011 where the PC shipment went up by 1.7 %.

Earlier during the shopping season, release of Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) new Windows operating system showed a significant restoration trend. But as per the statement made by IDC yesterday, it has been noted that this overhaul actually didn’t boost up the public demand for PCs. The new operating system, Windows 8 was actually smartly developed to make the most out of its use in touch-screen gadgets like tablets and mobile phones. We can assume that the clear plan was to help the PC makers to compete with Smartphone as well as Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad of different variants. Nowadays, Smartphone and mini handheld gadgets can do almost all the tasks, which were once confined to PCs.

As per the lead analyst at IDC, Jay Chou, Windows 8 actually lost in the shuffle on the objective of promoting a touch-centric PC and the vendors have not stressed on other features, which will promote a more secure and efficient user experience, which is more reliable.

Comparison of the market leaders

On comparing the performance of the leading players in the market, as per IDC’s report, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) got the major share and grabbed the topmost place in the fourth quarter of year 2012. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) enjoyed a comparatively higher rate of 17 % of the PC shipments worldwide in this specific quarter. The next in the row is Lenovo Group Ltd. (PINK:LNVGY), slightly below Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) with 16 % of the total market share of PC shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) with a bit distant chase at 11 %. In fact, Dell was the one which got the biggest blow as the shipments fell down by 21 % in this specific quarter.

In United States, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) were well chased by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which held another 11 % of the total shipment in the last quarter of the year 2012. As per IDC, the sales of Apple’s Mac computers fell just that only 1 % in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Lenovo Group Ltd. (PINK:LNVGY) were up by 1.01 % to end at $20.04

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) were down by 0.74% to close at $16.16.

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were down by 0.61% to close at $520.30.

Shares of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) were down by 1.45% to close at $10.88

Shares of Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up by 1.40% to close at $26.83.