Mumbai, Oct 12 (IANS): Global PC shipments stood at 68.9 million units in the third quarter of 2016, a 5.7 per cent decline from the third quarter of 2015, market research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

"There are two fundamental issues that have impacted PC market results -- the extension of the lifetime of the PC caused by the excess of consumer devices, and the weak PC consumer demand in emerging markets," said Mikako Kitagawa, Principal Analyst at Gartner.

This is the eighth consecutive quarter of PC shipment decline, the longest duration of decline in the history of the PC industry, according to Gartner.

Consumers in emerging markets primarily use smartphones or phablets for their computing needs, and they do not find the need to use a PC, added Kitagawa.

Lenovo continued to be the worldwide market leader with a market share of 20.9 per cent based on preliminary PC shipments, but HP Inc. with market share of 20.4 per cent is nearly tied for this top spot.

Dell stood third with 14.7 per cent market share and ASUS stood at fourth position with 7.8 per cent market share in third quarter of this year. 

Apple with 7.2 per cent market share stood at fifth position, the report said.