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Mixed Bag for PC Vendors, Decline Continued in 1Q16

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Worldwide PC shipments totaled 60.6 million units in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), a year-on-year decline of 11.5%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

Shipments were in line with conservative expectations for a decline of 11.3%, and anticipated a relatively weak environment during the first half of 2016 as Windows 10 enterprise upgrades largely remained in pilot phase while consumer demand remains weak. The volatility in stocks, commodities and currencies also helped depress shipments.

Inventory reductions in the channel, which were a headwind through much of 2015, seem to be wrapping up.

Similarly, some rebound in economic conditions should support both commercial and consumer activity going forward.

Nevertheless, channels, vendors, and users remain cautious about new purchases. Overall, Asia/Pacific and EMEA performed slightly better than forecast, while the Americas pulled down worldwide results.

“In the short term, the PC market must still grapple with limited consumer interest and competition from other infrastructure upgrades in the commercial market,” said Jay Chou, Research Manager, IDC Worldwide PC Tracker, “Nevertheless, IDC still projects total business IT spending to grow compared to 2015, and as we head toward the end of 2016 things should start picking up in terms of Windows 10 pilots turning into actual PC purchases.”

PC shipments to the U.S. fell 5.8% to 13.6 million units in 1Q16. PC channels remained challenged with aging inventory although inventory churn has reportedly improved throughout the last two quarters. Market inhibitors that were present in 4Q15 lingered through 1Q16.

These issues included softened demand due to global economic concerns, the Windows 10 free upgrade path stalling some consumer PC purchases, and increased attrition towards detachables. “Demand for PCs in the U.S. remains sluggish,” said IDC Research Director, Devices & Displays, Linn Huang. “However, we should be entering a period of reprieve. Peak corporate and education buying seasons have historically started in the second quarter. With some IT buyers thinking about early Windows 10 transitions and with the potential continued ascent of Chromebooks in U.S. K-12, the PC market should experience a modest rebound in the coming months.”

Regional Highlights
United States – Dell overtook HP Inc. for the first place ranking for the first time since the third quarter of 2009, ending a run of 25 consecutive quarters with HP Inc. at the top of the U.S. PC market. Dell’s U.S.

PC shipments rose 4.2% year over year to 3.48 million – good for a 25.6% share. HP Inc’s PC shipments to the U.S. fell 14.1% to 3.44 million units (25.3% share).

Lenovo continued its aggressive growth trajectory as its 1.9 million units shipped represented 21.1% year-over-year growth and accounted for 14.1% of total U.S. PC shipments.

Apple’s Mac shipments rose 5.6% year over year to nearly 1.8 million (13.0% market share).

Acer’s shipments fell 10.4% to 0.7 million, but the company overtook ASUS and Toshiba to regain a seat in the U.S. top five.

Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) – EMEA PC shipments declined double-digit year over year, which was in line with the forecast. 1Q16 was the last quarter to suffer from an unfavorable year-over-year comparison due to large Bing shipments in the prior year, which significantly affected the consumer market.

Windows 10 had a limited impact on PC renewals as its rapid adoption came mostly from free software upgrades.

The new products launched with Windows 10 and Skylake architecture supported sales growth but could not reverse the overall negative trend.

Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) – The APeJ PC market continued to decline as end user demand remained soft, while vendors focused on inventory clearing.

Economic uncertainty weighed on the overall market performance across the region, with businesses limiting their investments and many commercial projects being postponed or downsized, while consumer spending was dampened by currency fluctuations and increases in pricing.

Japan – The market performed slightly better than forecast but still had negative growth. Slowing economic outlook and continued uncertainty over currency rates further dampened demand.

Vendor Highlights
Lenovo maintained its top global rank for the quarter with U.S. growth in excess of 20%. However, the company faced a challenging quarter in all other markets with international shipments declining 12.5% from the prior year, bringing total worldwide volume down 8.5% from a year ago.

HP Inc. remained the number 2 vendor as it navigated its separation from HP Enterprise during the quarter. The company struggled with some inventory issues in North America and a continued slow market in Latin America, with total worldwide shipments declining nearly 11% from the prior year.

Dell remained the number 3 vendor globally, outperforming the market with a decline of just 2%, and also pulled to the lead in the United States market. Strong shipments of notebook PCs helped the vendor achieve the best quarter among the top 5 vendors.

Apple took the fourth spot worldwide and continued to outperform the market, thanks to solid growth in North America.

ASUS declined 8.3% from a year ago and dropped to the number 5 position. North America still saw decent uptake, but the vendor faced challenges elsewhere, especially EMEA.

 


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Attackers Target Employees with Fake HR Updates

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Kaspersky has identified an advanced phishing campaign targeting employees with personalised emails and attached documents disguised as HR policy updates.

This campaign marks a significant escalation in phishing tactics, with attackers tailoring not only the email body, but also the attachments by addressing individual recipients, showcasing an unprecedented level of customisation. The goal was to lure the victim into entering their corporate email credentials.

The attackers likely prepared by parsing employee names to make the campaign targeted and more convincing.

The emails feature a deceptive body: a fraudulent “verified sender” badge to build trust, the recipient’s name, and an invitation to open the attached file to review remote work protocols, benefits administration and security standards. However, the whole email body is in reality just an image with no real text in it; this is done to bypass email filters.

The attached document, posing as an updated “Employee Handbook,” does not contain any actual guidelines – only a title page, a table of contents with the items that have supposedly been changed highlighted in red, a page with a QR code, supposedly for going to the full document and common instructions on how to read QR codes using a phone. The document features the victim’s name multiple times to convince that this document was created specifically for them.

If the victim scans the QR code and follows the link, they land on a fraudulent page where they are asked to enter their corporate credentials, which is what the attackers are hunting for.

“This campaign demonstrates a new level of sophistication in phishing attacks, and we may be seeing a new mailing automation mechanism that generates a separate attached document and a separate image for the email body for each recipient.

“This tactic allows to scale the attack and at the same time possibly evade traditional defenses. Organisations must prioritise advanced security measures and employee education to stay ahead of these threats,” comments Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.

 


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Temu Joins INTA to Combat Counterfeits and Elevate IP Standards Worldwide

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Temu, the global online marketplace, has joined the International Trademark Association (INTA) as a corporate member and serves on its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee.

INTA is a global association that brings together more than 6,700 organizations, representing over 37,000 trademark professionals and brand owners across 181 countries. By joining INTA, Temu deepens its commitment to building a trusted online marketplace and advancing global IP protection through broader, cross-industry collaboration.

“INTA welcomes TEMU’s willingness to engage in anticounterfeiting initiatives, including in the Association’s annual Anticounterfeiting Workshop and Online Takedown Certificate Program which serve to share best practices and connect stakeholders,” said Alastair Gray, Director of Anti-Counterfeiting, INTA. “Constructive collaboration with these efforts can contribute to the protection of intellectual property rights for INTA members and support the removal of counterfeit products from the platform which ultimately protects consumers.”

At the 2025 INTA Annual Meeting held in San Diego in May, Temu participated in the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee Roundtable, serving as a moderator to facilitate discussions among brand owners, online platforms, and government officials on emerging technologies, best practices for collaboration, and strategies to strengthen global anti-counterfeiting efforts.

“Joining INTA and serving on its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee reflects Temu’s ongoing commitment to ensuring a trustworthy online shopping experience,” said a Temu spokesperson. “We value collaboration with industry peers and stakeholders and are dedicated to advancing collective efforts in intellectual property protection.”

Temu also participates in INTA-led online workshops, including the Online Platform Notice and Takedown Certification Program, which outlines the latest procedures and best practices used by e-commerce platforms and social media companies. These workshops aim to enhance the quality and accuracy of rights-holder notices, promoting more effective takedown processes and content moderation.

Since launching in 2022, Temu has made significant investments in IP enforcement. Its measures include comprehensive seller vetting and compliance training, 24/7 algorithmic monitoring with manual review, a dedicated IP protection portal and brand registry to streamline takedown submissions, and an internal enforcement team that handles claims with speed and accuracy.


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Huawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product

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China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled an AI computing system on Saturday that an industry expert said rivals Nvidia’s most advanced product, as the company aims to expand its footprint in the country’s booming AI sector.

Huawei Unveils AI Computing System to Challenge Nvidia’s Flagship Product

The CloudMatrix 384 system made its public debut at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), a three-day event in Shanghai, attracting a large crowd to Huawei’s booth with its showcase of cutting-edge AI innovations.

The system has attracted significant interest from the global AI community since Huawei (HWT.UL) first introduced it in April. Industry analysts see it as a direct challenger to Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, the most advanced system-level offering currently available from the U.S. chipmaker.

In an April article, Dylan Patel, founder of semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis, stated that Huawei now possesses AI system capabilities that could surpass those of Nvidia.

Huawei staff at its WAIC booth declined to comment when asked to introduce the CloudMatrix 384 system.

A spokesperson for Huawei did not respond to questions.

Huawei has become widely regarded as China’s most promising domestic supplier of chips essential for AI development, even though the company faces U.S. export restrictions.

Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang told Bloomberg in May that Huawei had been “moving quite fast” and named the CloudMatrix as an example.

The CloudMatrix 384 system features 384 of Huawei’s latest 910C chips and, according to SemiAnalysis, surpasses Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 in certain performance metrics, despite the latter using 72 B200 chips.

SemiAnalysis attributes this performance advantage to Huawei’s strong system design, which offsets the lower power of individual chips by leveraging a greater number of them and incorporating system-level innovations.

Huawei describes the system as utilizing a “supernode” architecture that enables ultra-high-speed interconnectivity between chips.

In June, Zhang Pingan, CEO, Huawei Cloud confirmed that the CloudMatrix 384 was already operational on Huawei’s cloud platform.


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