Could Apple Inc. (AAPL) Benefit From This 1 Ugly Statistic?

Is the PC market ever going to make a comeback? While there is no way of knowing what the future holds, it is not looking too good. Instead, tablets and smartphones are shipping at record numbers and this trend does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. While this could mean big things for many companies, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one that is really looking to take advantage.

As you know, the Cupertino based company has a stronghold on the tablet market at the present time.

As we discussed yesterday, backed up by data from Chitika Insights, the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad is still king:

“The iPad has shown little fluctuation in web traffic volume so far this year, claiming 81.3% of tablet web traffic in April, up slightly from 81.0% in January. Amazon’s Kindle Fire has maintained its place as the second largest tablet in web traffic share with 7.4% of traffic in April.”

With a growing number of consumers shunning PCs and turning to tablets, Apple is in position to increase its user base.

For a better idea of why this may be coming true, we don’t have to look any further than a recent study by IDC: PC Outlook Falls As Market Increasingly Looks to Tablets

Here are the stats that you need to pay close attention to:

“The new forecast reflects a shift in PC buying trends as users increasingly consider alternatives such as delaying a PC purchase or using tablets and smartphones for more of their computing needs. In place of a limited decline of -1.3% in 2013 followed by a gradual increase in volume, the new outlook calls for a more substantial decline of -7.8% in 2013 and -1.2% in 2014 with shipment volume reaching only 333 million in 2017 – still below the 349 million shipped in 2012 and a peak of more than 363 million shipped in 2011.”

There are a lot of negative numbers in there, showing that the PC market is not what it used to be. With so many tablets on the market, not just the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, consumers have more options than ever before. For instance, low cost Android tablets are becoming more and more popular.

The decline of PC shipments, along with the increase of tablets from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) among others, is a trend that is hitting both emerging and mature markets, as you will see on the next page: