Worldwide PC monitor shipments totalled nearly 33.7 million units in the first quarter of 2014 (1Q14), a year-over-year decline of -0.4%, according to recent IDC findings.

As a result, the global analyst firm expects worldwide shipments to continue on their current trajectory, slipping to 106 million units for the full year 2018.

"Despite the overall decline, the shipment totals were stronger than the forecast of 31 million units," says Phuong Hang, Program Director, Worldwide Trackers, IDC.

"Geographically, Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions delivered the largest gains during the first quarter while Dell and HP both experienced solid shipment growth."

According to Hang, Dell maintained its number one position in 1Q14 with worldwide market share of 14.9% on shipments of 5.0 million units.

Japan and Western Europe delivered the biggest gains for Dell with 32.4% and 14.7% quarter-over-quarter growth respectively, while the U.S. market remained essentially flat.

Samsung regained the number two position from last quarter in terms of total units shipped and maintained the top position in terms of total revenue with $1.11 billion in 1Q14 - its revenue represents 18.4% share in total market value.

HP holds the number three spot, while LG and Lenovo came in fourth and fifth place respectively.

According to Hang, LED backlight technology adoption continues to increase with a new high of 92% market share in 1Q14, representing a year-over-year increase of 16.4%.

Screen size of 21.x-inches wide has held the largest worldwide share for the last six quarters, with 20.5% share in 1Q14 while aspect ratios of 16:9 continue to dominate with 81.3% market share, which is 6.5 times the second most widely used Aspect ratio of 16:10.

Touch screen monitors are still a small segment of the total PC monitor market at 0.4% share, with sales mostly in the U.S. at 32.8% of the total. HP holds a 35.1% share of the U.S. market.