Apparently total global PC shipments (which includes desktops, laptops, convertibles and also tablets) comprised 101 million units in the first quarter of 2016. This is the lowest total Canalys has recorded since the second quarter of 2011.

Other than Two in Ones which showed 13 per cent growth sales were weak. Canalys said:

"Shipments of two-in-ones and detachable tablets are expected to continue to do well in the US and will grow in high income markets."

But that gear is too expensive to make much of an impact for a while. Tim Coulling, Senior Analyst at Canalys, commented:

"Although other vendors are coming to market with cheaper alternatives, they are unlikely to have a big impact on volumes in the short term."

 

As we have been warning, the so called "game changing" tablet turned out to be a fad and sales fell 15 per cent compared to the previous year, Notebook shipments in EMEA plummetted 18 per cent.

Canalys considered tablets as PCs, rather than the keyboardless netbooks with out a useful function to god or man that they really are. Apple is the top vendor but not far ahead of Lenovo. Apple saw a fall of 17 per cent just over 14 million devices. Apple and Lenovo are effectively neck-and-neck which is a sign that any advantage Apple gained by popularising tablets has been lost to people who make the same thing better and cheaper.

All these figures tie to the recent Gartner figures for the first quarter of 2016, which showed a 9.6 per cent drop compared to Q1 of 2015, with total shipments falling below 65 million units for the first time since 2007. That figure did not include tablets.

We all knew the market was rubbish but it does not seem like it is pulling out anytime soon. Of course AMD fans will say that will all change when Zen is released while Apple religious fundementalists are pinning the recovery on the return of Steve Jobs, on the sound basis that if Jon Snow can manage it, it should be a doddle for the super-cool genuis of the IT industry who invented everything.