PC sales fall for fourth consecutive year

San Francisco — The PC industry had another down year in 2015, as global shipments fell for the fourth-consecutive year despite new models and the release of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system.

Even holiday sales had a limited impact on shipments during the final months of 2015. Analysts at the Gartner research firm estimate manufacturers shipped 288.7 million personal computers in 2015, down 8% from 2014.

Gartner says Apple was the only major computer maker to see an increase in global shipments last year, while Lenovo, HP, Dell and Asus all saw declines.

Experts say PC sales are still being hurt by the popularity of smartphones and tablets. And the expected boost from Windows 10 was undercut by Microsoft's decision to give free software upgrades to users of its previous operating system.