Global desktop shipments are expected to decline 15% on year in 2015 and some brand vendors may see their shipments drop over 20% as demand from emerging markets such as China was weaker than expected, while Windows 10's free upgrade plan is expected to have limited effect on triggering a replacement trend, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

With the desktop PC market gradually shrinking, many upstream component suppliers have started turning their focuses to other areas.

Global notebook shipments have started recovering since the third quarter, but the desktop segment continued declining, while related enterprise and education procurement orders have also been dropping as the trend of notebooks replacing desktops expands.

However, the all-in-one PC continues to see stable shipments, while mini PC products are enjoying strong growth.

First-tier vendors such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell and Lenovo have all been seriously impacted by the desktop shipment drop, but smaller vendors such as Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Gigabyte Technology and Asustek Computer have seen significant support from their mini PC products.