Microsoft's Windows 10 giveaway (not surprisingly) fails to spark a spike in PC sales

Microsoft demonstrates the 'power of free' as users stick with their old machines rather than splashing the cash on a new one

The release of Microsoft's new operating Windows 10 has failed to stimulate the hoped-for spike in PC sales - instead, helping sales to fall further as people took advantage of Microsoft's free-upgrade offer.

Worldwide PC shipments fell by 7.7 per cent to 73.7 million units in the third quarter of 2015, compared to the third quarter of 2014, according to preliminary results released by analyst group Gartner.

The only two major vendors not to experience a fall in sales were Dell, whose sales rose a miniscule 0.5 per cent, and (perhaps predictably) Apple, whose global sales increased by 1.5 per cent to 5.6 million units, to claim fourth spot and a market share of 7.6 per cent. However, the epicentre of Apple's sales remains the US, which accounts for 44 per cent of its total worldwide sales.

Meanwhile, Acer was hardest hit with global sales plunging by 20 per cent to 5.4 million units, but were down by a stunning 35 per cent in the EMEA region, which as a whole saw sales fall by just over 17 per cent.

HP, meanwhile, outperformed the market, prior to its break-up into separate PC/printers on the one side, and enterprise technology on the other. Its global sales were down, but by just four per cent - the same as top-placed Lenovo.

Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, suggested that one of the reasons for the moribund market was price increases throughout the year. "The global PC market has experienced price increases of around 10 per cent throughout the year, due to the sharp appreciation of the US dollar against local currencies. In the third quarter of 2015, this continued to be a major cause for weaker demand in those regions," said Kitagawa.

However, after more than three years of largely declining sales, Gartner notes one or two shimmers of light for PC manufacturers: according to Gartner's 2015 personal technology survey, 50 per cent of consumers expressed intention to purchase a PC in the next 12 months, compared with 21 per cent expressing an intention to purchase a tablet computer.

Indeed, Gartner has stuck its neck out by suggesting that sales will improve in the fourth quarter of 2015, which they almost certainly will on a sequential basis as PCs are bought during the holiday season. But it remains to be seen whether they rise compared to the fourth quarter of 2014.