Analysts: Global PC shipments fell for the first time after two years of growth
Fewer PCs were shipped worldwide in the past quarter than a year earlier, according to analysts’ figures. This is not necessarily a problem and the number of PCs delivered is still high, the analysts note. According to one of them, the turnover has increased considerably.
Analyst Agencies IDC, canalys and Gartner all three indicate PC shipments have fallen, ranging from 7.3 percent according to Gartner to 3 percent according to Canalys. It is the first time since the second quarter of 2020 that all three agencies indicate that the number of PCs delivered has decreased from a year earlier.
However, the focus should not be on the declining number of PCs, as that was to be expected, says IDC Vice President Ryan Reith. “The focus should be on the industry’s delivery of more than 80 million PCs, while logistics and supply chains are still in shambles, coupled with various geopolitical and pandemic-related challenges.”
Demand in education and among consumers is said to have weakened, but demand in the corporate sector is still strong, Reith said. He also expects consumer demand to pick up again soon. IDC also reports that more than 80 million PCs were shipped for seven consecutive quarters by Q1 2022. This would not have happened since 2012, indicating that the market for PCs is still strong.
Gartner sees the sharpest decline in PC shipments, mainly due to a significant drop in Chromebook shipments. In 2020 and early last year, there was a high demand for these laptops in education, but this demand has since weakened. Excluding Chromebooks, the number of PCs shipped grew by 3.3 percent, Gartner says. Demand in the business sector increased as people move to the office more and therefore more desktops are needed.
The EMEA market, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa, fell 6.3 percent, according to Gartner. 22.5 million PCs were delivered here. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had “significant” consequences as demand in Ukraine collapsed and many companies stopped supplying PCs to Russia. High inflation would also lead to a fall in demand for PCs, especially among consumers.
Canalys says that while PC shipments dropped 3 percent, sales rose 15 percent to $70 billion. Demand still exceeds supply, according to Canalys, and consumers would like to spend more for a PC. This analyst firm says that PC sellers should be happy and that people are using their PCs more often, for longer and for more tasks than ever.
The three analysts see Lenovo as the largest supplier worldwide, followed by HP, Dell, Apple and ASUS. The figures differ between the analysts because, for example, different measurement methods are used and because they use different definitions for PCs. For example, IDC does not see tablets and servers as PCs, while Canalys only excludes tablets as PCs. Gartner excludes “iPads” and Chromebooks from its numbers. The three offices are provisional results.