PC hardware shipments see worst decline ever as mobile reigns

While PC software is making headway in the game industry thanks to digital sales, hardware sales continue to decline. Worldwide shipments of PCs saw the greatest decline ever last quarter, also marking consecutive declines of PC shipments for the last four quarters. According to data from the International Data Corporation, for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, PC shipments were down 13.9 percent year-over-year, far worse than the IDC's 7.7 percent decline forecast. The U.S. in particular saw a dismal quarter, with quarterly shipments dropping to 14.2 million -- their lowest since the first quarter of 2006. PC shipments in the U.S. have declined during nine of the last ten fiscal quarters. The organization says that tablets and smartphones are diverting consumer spending, and that the PC industry's efforts to offer touch-capable options have been hampered by high costs and poor component supplies. The weak reception for Windows 8 also caused part of this decline, says the IDC, and has in fact caused the PC market to slow down, rather than boosting it. "The PC industry is struggling to identify innovations that differentiate PCs from other products and inspire consumers to buy," reads the report, "and instead is meeting significant resistance to changes perceived as cumbersome or costly."