Be prepared to pay more to buy a new PC in the coming years as retail prices could spike amidst declining profit margins.

PC sales across the world have witnessed a slowdown and the numbers are expected to drop further in the coming years.

According to the latest report form IDC, total PC shipments are expected to contract by 4.9 per cent in 2015, mainly driven by lower-than-expected demand for desktop and portable PCs.

According to the latest Gartner report, the global computing devices market (PCs and ultra-mobiles) is on pace to reach $226 billion, a 7.2 percent decline compared to 2014. While 313 million units were sold in 2014, the number is expected to drop to 306 million in 2015.

The number of traditional PCs and laptops have gone down from 277 million to 252 million while sale of ultra-mobiles will grow from 36 million in 2014 to 53 million in 2015, said the latest figures by Gartner.

According to it, stripping out the impact of exchange-rate movements (constant US dollars), the global computing devices spending will decrease 3.1 per cent in 2015.

IDC’s latest numbers point to global PC shipments to be 293.1 million units in 2015. In dollar terms, the PC market touched $201 billion in 2014 and is expected to go down by an additional 6.9 per cent in 2015.

And amidst declining sales, expect the prices to go up. "The fall in PC purchases is primarily due to expected price increases by vendors in Europe and other regions, which is forced by local currency depreciation against the dollar," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

"The currency squeeze is forcing PC vendors to increase their prices in order to remain profitable and, as result, it is suppressing purchases. We expect businesses will delay purchases of new PCs, and consumers will delay or 'de-feature' their purchases,” Atwal said and added that this reduction in purchasing is not a downturn but a reshaping of the market driven by currency.

Meanwhile, the mobile phone market continues to grow and remains the largest and most profitable segment of the global device market. It is expected to total 1.9 billion units and grow 3.5 per cent in 2015.

According to Gartner, the presence of cheaper smartphones will continue to appeal to consumers, and counter the need to increase prices.

“Mobile phone pricing has been increasing over the last few years driven by a rising premium-phone average selling price, but now will remain flat or slightly down as the smartphone market reaches saturation over the next few years,” said the Gartner report.