The main reason for this decrease is the anticipation of a global recession, increased inflation and higher interest rates, which have impacted PC demand, the report said
A latest report by Gartner suggests that Worldwide PC shipments totaled 65.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 28.5 per cent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2021.
Gartner said that this is the largest quarterly shipment decline since it began tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s. It reported that PC shipments reached 286.2 million units in 2022, a 16.2 per cent decrease from 2021.
The main reason for this decrease is the anticipation of a global recession, increased inflation and higher interest rates, which have impacted PC demand, the report said.
During the quarter, the US PC market declined 20.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, registering its sixth straight quarter of shipment decline. Echoing the trend of the global PC market, both consumer and business PC spending slowed due to economic conditions.
Meanwhile, the EMEA PC market had a historical decline of 37.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY), due to the intersection of political unrest, inflationary pressures, interest rate increases and a pending recession.
The Asia Pacific market excluding Japan declined 29.4 per cent YoY, mainly due to the market in China. While the fourth quarter has traditionally been peak season for China’s business PC market, budget cuts by the Chinese government and uncertainty around changing COVID policies led to a significant drop in overall PC demand.
In a statement, Mikako Kitagawa, Director Analyst at Gartner said, “Since many consumers already have relatively new PCs that were purchased during the pandemic, a lack of affordability is superseding any motivation to buy, causing consumer PC demand to drop to its lowest level in years.”
The report mentioned that higher PC inventory levels started building in the first half of 2022 and have become a bottleneck for the PC market. Low PC supply caused by high demand and supply chain disruptions through 2021 quickly turned into an excess of supply once demand quickly and significantly slowed.
The enterprise PC market has also been impacted by a slowing economy.
“PC demand among enterprises began declining in the third quarter of 2022, but the market has now shifted from softness to deterioration. Enterprise buyers are extending PC lifecycles and delaying purchases, meaning the business market will likely not return to growth until 2024,” added Kitagawa.
The top three vendors in the worldwide PC market remained unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2022, with Lenovo maintaining the top spot in shipments. The company maintained 24 per cent market share, the company experienced its steepest decline since Gartner started tracking the PC market. Lenovo’s shipments fell in all regions except in Japan, declining over 30 per cent in EMEA and Latin America.
“HP and Dell also experienced historically steep declines. HP was hit hardest in the EMEA market, where shipments decreased 44 per cent year-over-year (YoY). For Dell, weak demand in the large business market impacted shipments in the second half of 2022,” the report mentioned.