PC shipments mark longest decline ever as Lenovo surpasses HP [Video]

The global PC market contracted for the fifth consecutive quarter, and a return to growth may be two years away, says research firm IDC

Weakness in the global economy, component shortages, sluggish demand for Windows 8 and the popularity of tablets all contributed to another double-digit percentage decline for the global PC market in the second quarter.

PC shipments in the period from April to June totalled 75.6 million units, down 11.4 percent from the same quarter in 2012, research firm IDC said on Wednesday.

The numbers include desktop, laptop, mini-notebook and workstation sales and exclude those of tablet computers.

If there was any good news in the figures, it was that the decline was marginally less bad than the 11.7 percent drop that IDC had initially predicted, though that won’t be much comfort to PC vendors.

All five of the top vendors sold fewer PCs globally than they did in the …