Industry analyst firm Canalys has brought more doom and gloom unto the PC market with the revelation that worldwide sales fell by 13 percent in the first quarter of this year.

In a report published on May 9, Canalys said PC sales from January to March 2016 declined to just 101 million units, a low not seen since the second quarter of 2011. The analyst firm warned that, what with the multi-year downward trend, things are unlikely to improve for PC vendors any time soon.

Canalys’ PC numbers include all desktop, notebook, two-in-one – computers that can be used as both a notebook and a tablet – and tablet sales. The findings echo earlier reports from bigger name analyst firms International Data Corp. (IDC) and Gartner Inc., who have both reported similar declines in the PC market despite initially signaling optimism that the release of Microsoft’s Windows 10 OS and Intel’s new 14-nanometer “Skylake” chips might provide a boost.

If that’s going to happen, there’s no sign of it yet. According to Canalys, Apple is currently the top PC vendor, although its shipments fell by more than 17 percent to just over 14 million units. China’s Lenovo Group Ltd., number two on Canalys’ list, shipped just 25,000 units less than Apple in the quarter as its numbers declined by double digits, partly due to weakening sales in China.

HP Inc., Dell Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd rounded out the top five vendors, and all saw shipments fall in the quarter.

The only real bright spot for PC vendors is that shipments of two-in-ones rose by 13 percent year-over-year, perhaps implying that there’s hope yet for this category at least. However, all the other categories saw big declines, with tablet shipments slumping by 15 percent to just 39 million units in total.

The situation is only going to get worse, said Tim Coulling, senior analyst with Canalys, in a statement.

“The tablet boom has faded in the distance and the market is fully mature,” Coulling said. “Global shipments declines are expected to continue unless vendors bring transformational innovation to the market. Apple and Microsoft are propping up shipments in established markets with their detachables, but price points make them less affordable in low-income countries.”

Some vendors have responded by releasing lower-cost alternatives onto the market, but Coulling said they’ve had little impact so far. Additionally, he warned that “the number of people looking to buy their first PC is at an all-time low and 2016 is likely to bring yet more turmoil to global PC vendors.”

However, IDC analysts said last month that while shipments had fallen by 11.3 percent in their own calculations, there were still reasons to be optimistic about an uptick in sales.

“Demand for PCs in the U.S. remains sluggish,” said Linn Huang, research director for devices and displays at IDC, last April. “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.”

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